Governor Kate Brown said on Friday that she learned in a phone call to the White House this week that Oregon’s COVID-19 vaccine quotas will increase by 20% – a move that the state’s top public health official said will mean more elderly, educators and health professionals health professionals will have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated one month ahead of schedule, in early May.
“This is really good news,” Brown said of more doses coming during a live press conference.
The windfall comes at a time when Oregon has been struggling to set an accurate timetable for vaccinating the first waves of eligible vaccinees, and public health officials predict “chaos” as elderly people aged 80 and over flood the country. vaccination system with its new eligibility as of Monday.
Brown did not offer details on the increase in vaccine shipments, including when additional doses would begin to arrive or by what number.
But Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen said that Oregon will begin receiving 11,600 additional doses of the Modern vaccine per week from a date he did not specify, plus an additional 12,000 additional doses per week starting next week. for pharmacies that plan to administer vaccines to the public through a federal program. In all, Allen said the weekly allocation of Oregon’s first doses would increase from 52,000 to more than 75,000. This is equivalent to a total increase of 44%.
In early April, Allen said Oregon should offer a first dose to about 75% of eligible seniors aged 65 and over; daycare, preschool and K-12 staff; inmates; and Phase 1a members, including health professionals and long-term care residents. He said that in early May about 75% will have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated with the second doses.
Three-quarters of vaccinated people can approach the maximum they will choose to be immunized against COVID-19. Allen said the state did surveys showing that about 80% of Oregon’s residents said they probably want to be vaccinated or are sure they do.
With most Oregon residents vaccinated in those early waves, Allen said that in early April, the state plans to open up eligibility for vaccination to new groups – like other essential workers and people with underlying diseases. He said it is possible that the general population in Oregon will start receiving vaccines in the arm in July and everyone who wants to be vaccinated will arrive in the fall.
Allen indicated that it was possible that the schedule could shorten the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine or others under construction to receive emergency clearance and begin arriving in Oregon this spring.
Also on Friday, Brown confirmed that he will immediately allow the vaccination process for all people incarcerated in Oregon to begin. This includes not only about 11,000 inmates in 14 state prisons, as a federal judge ordered earlier this week, but thousands of other inmates locked up in Oregon prisons and youth under 25 in the state’s juvenile prisons.
Both Brown and Allen asked for firmness, as the launch extends eligibility to their age groups: 75 and older from the week of February 14, 70 and older from the week of February 21 and 65 and older around March.
“Next week, when the elderly start to qualify, we will see a degree of chaos,” said Allen. “In the coming week, many older adults will inevitably express frustration. Next week, you won’t have to look far to see people confused. We will fall short. “
But, added Allen, “we are working hard to reduce the amount of chaos.”
Allen also said that the Oregonians’ upsets will eventually come.
“I am asking older Oregon citizens to be patient in return for this promise: although it takes time, all older people who want to be vaccinated will receive a vaccine in the coming weeks,” said Allen.
Brown said a technique she hopes “will help avoid some of the nightmares we’ve seen in other states” is to add older people by age group each week. She said this is not going to alleviate the problems.
“There will still be some hiccups in this process, but we will be able to overcome them,” said Brown.
Of the first 52,500 doses sent by the federal government to Oregon next week, the state will allocate 20,000 to seniors aged 80 and over. There are about 168,000 Oregon residents in this age group, but according to the state, about 30,000 of them have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, mainly because they were part of Phase 1a. This leaves up to 138,000 people remaining in that age group who are potentially competing for 20,000 doses available next week.
The remainder of the weekly distribution of the state of the first doses will be divided as follows: 13,000 for Phase 1a, 11,500 for educators, 5,000 for prisoners and 3,000 for tribes.
The governor recalled that the state has done better than most in taking the first doses into the arms of its population – occupying the 12th place among the states, with 8.8% inoculated with the first dose. Across the country, 8.4% of Americans have received a dose so far.
The governor also said that Oregon has prevented infections more successfully than most places in the country, ranking fourth in cases of known coronavirus and deaths per capita in the United States since the pandemic began.
It is unclear whether any elderly in their 80s will actually be able to get needle sticks on Monday. The governor’s office said the state’s online vaccination information tool – “Get Vaccinated Oregon” at covidvaccine.oregon.gov – will not be working until the same day.
State officials say the elderly can also call 2-1-1 for information. The governor said she is deploying 30 members of the National Guard to serve the queue.
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– Aimee Green; [email protected]; @o_aimee