The department’s Field Services Team is working consistently with business leaders in these regions to deal with ongoing COVID challenges. Washington State joined the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup as a further layer of professional evaluation and scrutiny. The workgroup, made up of nationally acclaimed scientists with expertise in immunization and public health, has concurrently and independently reviewed the FDA’s actions associated to COVID-19 vaccinations. The FDA, CDC and Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup approved the Pfizer vaccine for people over the age of 16 years and the Moderna vaccine for folks over the age of 18 years.