The winter weather that hit much of the United States delayed the shipment of 67,000 doses of COVID vaccines to Oregon, state officials said on Wednesday.
The doses of Moderna should have arrived on Tuesday, but by Wednesday they had not been sent, said a spokeswoman for the Oregon Health Authority.
It is unclear whether the shipments will be shipped on Thursday and arrive on Friday or later on the weekend, Erica Heartquist said by email. It is also unclear how the delays will affect, if any, appointments already scheduled – as of Wednesday the state had about 200,000 unused doses, which is likely to last at least a week.
The Oregon Health Authority announced on Monday that the cold front across the country is expected to delay shipments of the vaccine this week. But officials have not responded to questions about these delays for more than 48 hours, citing agency officials who were without power in Oregon.
The delayed vaccines included the first doses aimed at 15,700 elderly people, 5,200 educators and 5,400 people in phase 1a, such as health professionals, disabled Oregonians and others. The second doses for 37,700 Oregon residents are also in that order.
Heartquist did not say directly where Oregon vaccines are being shipped from, but noted that bad weather in Memphis has hampered shipments. Memphis International Airport recorded 5.3 inches of snow on Monday, according to press reports. Up to three more inches of snow are expected for this area on Wednesday night.
Oregon this week received 34,125 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which includes first doses for 13,125 elderly people, 6,100 educators, 6,125 people in phase 1a and 8,775 second doses. Oregon also allocated about 16,000 additional doses of Pfizer this week to the federal program that sends doses directly to local pharmacies.
– Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt