This week in politics: The beginning of the beginning of the rest of our lives?

All of Washington state moves to Phase 3 of reopening on March 22.

Governor Jay Inslee announced the development on Thursday, shortly before President Joe Biden said all adults should be eligible for a Covid vaccine by May 1.

Inslee took a step closer to that goal, too. He said the next category of residents will be eligible for the vaccine sooner than expected; on March 17, grocery and agriculture workers, law enforcement, people who are pregnant and those who have a high-risk disability will be able to get vaccinated.

Watch: President Biden directs states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1

Host of Civic Cocktail Joni Balter told KUOW"s Paige Browning that "several things" feel different about the current state of the pandemic, starting with Seattle's new mass vaccination site that opens this Saturday at the Lumen Field Event Center.

"This is one big hopeful hill to climb to help us get to safe reopening," Balter said. "The plan is to vaccinate 2,000 people on the first day. That gives a lot of us hope and optimism."

The site will have the capacity to administer significantly more shots than any of Washington’s other mass vaccination centers. If it can get adequate vaccine supplies, it could provide up to 22,000 doses per day. It is expected to administer 2,100 doses on its first day.

“We are going to vaccinate Washingtonians like crazy at Lumen Field,” Gov. Inslee said this week. “You give us the doses, Mr. President — we’ll give you the vaccinations.”

The Lumen Field mass vaccination site is expected to be the largest civilian-run operation of its kind in the nation. If the Lumen Field site gets enough doses to operate at full capacity, it could give vaccines to nearly a third of King County residents in just a month.

The city says it's prioritizing underserved communities, particularly communities of color, at all vaccination sites.

The flurry of developments had Balter wondering whether this is the beginning, of the beginning, of better days ahead. She said the Lumen Field site "gives a lot of us hope and optimism."

But the county and state have to deliver "the all-important juice" — the vaccines — to make that hope a reality.

Seattle campaigns

Meanwhile, political life marches on. New candidates are emerging in upcoming Seattle elections, such as Nikkita Oliver who announced their run for Seattle City Council, Position 9, this week. Oliver is aiming to take over the seat being vacated by Councilmember Lorena González who is now running for mayor.

"Nikkita Oliver entering the citywide race for Position 9 pulls that race, and probably the mayor's race, leftward, at least at the beginning," Balter said.

Balter notes that Oliver has advocated for a range of far left issues in the past, such as defunding police. But she's "not sure that is a winning pitch in Seattle, post Covid."

"The defunding police, nationwide, polls at only 18%. Now I'm sure you can get a higher number here in Seattle. But our police chief at the same time saying he cannot provide reasonable police response when the department has lost so many officers in the last year."

Balter says that another candidate, Brianna Thomas, occupies the same political end of the spectrum as Oliver and that can split up support among that voting population. That could help out small business candidate Sara Nelson who is also running for Position 9.

"Just talking mathematics here, two lefty candidates gives more space to Nelson," Balter said.

Balter joined KUOW's Paige Browning to talk about the week in politics. Listen to the conversation by clicking the audio above.