One woman was so thrilled at the chance to get the coronavirus vaccine that her hands were shaking as she filled out the paperwork. One man was so excited that he did a happy dance. A young woman happily accepted the offer, saying she did not think she would be eligible for long.
They were among six lucky recipients caught in the middle of a snowstorm on Tuesday who received a knock on their ice windows from public health officials also arrested in the United States. 199 out of Cave Junction, in southern Oregon.
“Once we learned that vaccines would not go down the mountain, the choice was obvious,” said Mike Weber, director of public health for Josephine County.
As the winter storm subsided, he and a handful of colleagues packed up the vaccination clinic they had held that day at Illinois Valley High School and headed for the snow.
They hoped to deliver six pieces of tea to half a dozen people who had lined up at a clinic on Grants Pass, about 45 minutes away.
They reached 199, where a tractor trailer ahead had turned, closing the highway. The closure would take hours, officials said.
Weber did not want the team’s valuable cargo to be wasted. The Modern vaccines that they had on hand only served for six hours after they were taken.
They were left with only one choice: get out of their cars and offer pictures to the other arrested drivers.
Weber said that, with so many supply and eligibility limits, it is essential not to waste a single dose.
“I made it clear to my team that above all, we are not going to lose anything,” he said. “We receive so little vaccine in our community that it is really a precious commodity.”
They zipped their coats and got out of the cars, moving as a team from one car to another as snow accumulated around them.
Weber said the team obtained information about the stolen trailer from county emergency management officials so they could inform drivers of the source of the delay.
“We were going from car to car letting people know what was going on and in the course of this conversation and explaining that we were also telling the situation we were in, that we were in public health and that we were coming from a vaccine clinic and we had doses that we needed be administered and we were just looking for people who might want to receive, ”he said.
He said the offer was met with humor, confusion and, for some, joy.
Most, however, politely refused.
“This is not an area of the state that is necessarily as excited about receiving the vaccine as many others,” said Weber. “There is a lot of hesitation about vaccination here. We were not sure how people would react. “
Josephine County has one of the lowest child vaccination rates in the state, according to the most recent data from the Oregon Health Authority.
The group approached 40 vehicles to find six people who wanted the vaccine, he said.
“For six people it was very exciting,” he said. “For everyone else, it was obviously varied.”
The man who made the template thought it would take months before he was vaccinated.
“I never thought I’d be happy to be trapped in a snowstorm,” he told Weber.
“He ended up jumping out of the car, tearing off his shirt in the middle of the storm so we could take his arm,” said Weber. “He was more excited than I have ever seen anyone.”
Another woman told Weber’s team that she had tried to get a vaccine at her clinic at the Illinois Valley High School clinic, but she had closed when she arrived from Grants Pass.
“She was really grateful and happy,” said Weber.
She received the last dose.
– Noelle Crombie; [email protected]; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie