Eilís O'Neill
Reporter
About
Eilís is a reporter covering health. She focuses on health inequities, substance use and addiction, infectious diseases, mental health, and reproductive and maternal health.
Eilís came to KUOW in 2016. Before that, she worked as a freelance reporter, first in South America, and then in New York City. Her work has aired on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, APM’s Marketplace, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and other programs.
Eilís' work as part of a team covering Covid-19 outbreaks and vaccine hesitation in Washington won a regional Murrow award, as did a series about children who lost parents to Covid-19. Her series about the opioid crisis on the Olympic Peninsula won several regional Society for Professional Journalists awards as well as a national Public Media Journalists Association award.
Eilís grew up in Seattle and was a high school intern at KUOW, in the program that later became RadioActive. She has a Master's in Science, Health, and Environment Reporting from Columbia University. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English, Spanish
Pronouns: she/her
Stories
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Covid cases are down as students on UW's Greek Row get vaccinated
Covid cases on the University of Washington’s Greek Row have slowed to a trickle as the community gets vaccinated.
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Fully vaccinated? You should still mask up says King County official
King County’s public health agency is asking for voluntary compliance with a directive to keep masking up in indoor public spaces like grocery stores and restaurants. That’s despite last week’s guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it’s safe for those who are fully vaccinated to take their masks off.
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When to mask up? Clarity on conflicting guidelines
‘It has led to a super-confusing patchwork. Some companies have said they're keeping their mask requirements for now. Other companies say they're no longer requiring masks for people who are fully vaccinated.’
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These tribes have not received federal assistance during the pandemic
The Indian Health Service has been lauded for the success of its vaccine rollout. But there’s one group of tribes that received no vaccines, no testing supplies and none of the federal relief money that’s gone to Indian Country during the pandemic.
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Surprising day For WA counties on the verge of a phase rollback
‘The governor seems to be gambling that in two weeks the situation will look pretty different than it does today.’
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1 million Covid vaccines sit in freezers as Covid rates climb in Washington state
State health officials say the major sticking point in the vaccine rollout is supply: How many doses the federal government has sent to Washington. But what about the doses here already — that haven’t been given to the millions of Washington state residents yet to get a single shot? At least 1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been delivered to providers in Washington state but never reported as having been given to a patient.
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Washington state halts Johnson & Johnson vaccinations amid blood clot investigation
Washingtonians scheduled to get the single shot may have to wait or accept other vaccine options in the meantime.
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As Latinos wait for vaccines in Seattle area, they keep getting sick
Over the course of the pandemic, Latinos in King County have been almost four times as likely to get Covid as white people, and three times as likely to die of it. But fewer Latinos have received a Covid dose: one in five Latinos compared to one in three white people in King County.
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Vaccination eligibility will soon expand big time. Will Washington state have a supply issue?
‘If you are not eligible now, but becoming eligible on Wednesday, you can actually start looking for an appointment as long as it's for a date after you become eligible.’
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'Phase Finder' no longer needed to verify vaccine eligibility in Washington state
Starting Wednesday, March 31, vaccine providers in Washington state will no longer have to use Phase Finder to verify whether vaccine recipients are eligible or not.