Ballard Commons cleanup and hepatitis vaccinations, outreach at Ballard Library today

Meghan Walker Ballard

There’s a big cleanup happening at Ballard Commons today, with a hepatitis outreach and vaccination booth set up at the Ballard Library.

Seattle Parks says they’re doing a “deep clean” of the park today due to new reports of Hepatitis A in the area. In addition to the cleanup, Seattle & King County Public Health has a hepatitis vaccination booth set up at the Ballard Library. The outreach has been ongoing since January 2019, according to Seattle & King County Public Health Communication Director James Apa.

“As part of our response to the new cases in the Ballard area, our Environmental Health team has been connecting with Seattle Parks & Recreation to confirm best practice sanitation procedures of the Portland Loo at the Seattle Commons as a precaution,” Apa told My Ballard via email today.

Since Jan. 2019, there have been 101 confirmed cases of Hepatitis A among King County residents. However, in March alone, 25 new cases have been confirmed, and 11 of those individuals reported living homeless in the Ballard area. Apa says they haven’t confirmed a common link at this point, but the vaccinations today are part of the effort to stop the outbreak.

“The most important strategy for addressing Hepatitis A outbreak is vaccination, and we’ve mobilized several clinics in the Ballard area in March and continuing into April, and doing street outreach and vaccinations as well this week,” Apa says.

Thanks Angie for the tip, and Tiffany Schulze for the photo

28 thoughts to “Ballard Commons cleanup and hepatitis vaccinations, outreach at Ballard Library today”

    1. SSSSHHH. We are not supposed to question a thing. Just be obedient. Where are the pissed off woman? As in moms with kids in strollers etc. Thank you city council. Thank you, feckless Pete Holmes. Thanks for nothing.

  2. wow, how did all that Hep A get there i wonder? may as well close that park for now, seeing as there is a stay-home order and you could only fit so many people in there at a safe distance anyway.

    fence off the entire perimeter until further notice.

  3. I hope that the old folks in that residential home on the north end of the park don’t have to deal with this. Imagine some nice old person buying a Real Change and, shaking hands with the vendor, gets more than they paid for. I’m glad the county is out there addressing this.

      1. Some people are pretty fragile, paintking. Anyone standing outside trying to make an honest living, while taking in the hateful glances of people like you, has my respect.

        1. Then it follows that the white van selling drugs and “found items” to anyone in the park has your respect too. Clean it up. Get them help which the City Council won’t do or out.

          1. Nice try. I would never equate selling newspapers to selling drugs. I want those pushers out of there — and jailed — as much as anyone.

          2. Ah my bad. Agree, heroin addicts enabled by the City Council and both City and County Attorneys need to be remedied. It would be a win for public safety, the addicts themselves and police that constantly have to watch criminals and know they can’t do anything. The loss would be for social justice warriors who created this mess in the first place.

  5. I don’t get it. Is going poo poo and pee pee outside unsanitary for heroin addicts? That sounds like such a safe policy for residents in Ballard. Who knew mentally insane people camping on sidewalks and defecating in park bushes would be bad for public health? City Council policy seemed so airtight. Safe for the public too.

      2. Most everybody is working from home these days, Truth. I’d say drinking early and often, while posting on neighborhood blogs, might be the high point of a lot of people’s days right about now! :)

  7. What I find annoying is the absence of comment (or presence) from our councilman, Dan Strauss. This is a major health problem in a central park in his district, but all we get from him is crickets. He should be there, and he should have some suggestion on what he thinks we should do about the campers at the Commons during this pandemic. The “leadership” from Councilman O’Brien was pathetic. Strauss hasn’t exactly distinguished himself (so far, at least). It’s easy to be morally virtuous at city council meetings, especially when you’re not involved in trying to get “our outdoor neighbors” to act as if they care at all what happens to the rest of us during this pandemic. The last thing doctors/nurses need now is to deal with a completely predictable hepatitis outbreak caused by lack of council leadership. What’s the plan, Mr. Strauss?

    1. his plan is to hide, apparently.

      just because the library is closed there is absolutely no reason to allow the filth that has been building up, especially on the north side of the library. i guess letting the vagrants stay where they are is better than having them wandering the city potentially bringing the virus or hep A with them.

      you couldn’t pay me to ride a bus right now – they are mostly rolling shelters right now.

    2. annoying? really. You can’t believe he cares one iota about you, right. You don’t believe this city wants the best for you? really What do the people you vote for have in common?
      Is it their Party? Are they Liberal? Strange that you hate Republicans so, when it the Liberals that are f*****g u int the bottom. I see danny boy doesn’t state his political incline, but claims he is nonpartisan and you buy that really nonpartisan?

  8. The legacy of O’Brien lives on in the form of hepatitis. Strauss so far has done nothing to change the situation that I am aware of. Allowing our park with a playground to become unusable for families and kids is absolutely unacceptable. These campers need to be removed and banned from all parks, public spaces and green spaces and transferred to shelters with adequate sanitation for the health and safety of both the transients as well as the general public.

    1. You’re right. But doing the right thing to help the campers, drug addicts and mentally ill park residents collided with Dan Strauss platform of Progressive policies.

      Progressive policies – no laws, drug use accepted, mental illness ignored, police are bad, property crime good, vagrancy ok, more taxes for Marxist causes.

      Ballard Commons remedy – vagrants off sidewalks and park camping eliminated, mental health mandatory for those in need, drug addicts jailed and addiction services mandatory, no more public camping

      Welp, good luck Ballard!
      Thanks Dan Strauss voters.

  9. The police arrest these druggies and dealers and the courts just put them back on the streets ! We need to lock these druggies up and not turn them loose until they have went thru a good drug treatment and job training like in the seattle is dying video did !

    1. Drug treatment is voluntary. Judges consistently make it voluntary where 99% don’t follow through. Why? Because they have an addiction problem which is a mental health issue manifesting in behavior issues.
      Social Justice Warriors, the majority of City Council, both City and County attorneys, most Judges and public defenders align with this philosophy too.

      In other words, drug addiction remedies are a remote possibility at best. Expect high property crime, vagrancy and enablement policies favoring drug addiction.
      Nice job Dan Strauss voters!!
      Seattle is dying. It’s not hyperbole.

      Thanks Social Justice morons. Dirty sidewalks, unsafe public spaces, open air drug use – or as social justice idiots call it, progress!!

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