Governor Kate Brown will deploy the Oregon National Guard to support vaccination efforts starting in Salem this weekend

Responding to widespread criticism of a slow vaccination campaign for COVID-19, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced today that she will send the Oregon National Guard to help administer 12,000 vaccinations a day, in “a general effort on deck” .

The governor said members of the guards will attend the Salem Health vaccination event at the Oregon State Fairgrounds first Saturday, Jan. 9, to provide logistical and nursing support.

But on Friday afternoon, his office clarified and announced another delay: National Guard officers would not be available until Tuesday, January 12.

The state wants to reach its goal of 12,000 a day by the end of next week. This weekend, the goal is to administer 250 vaccines per hour with the help of the National Guard.

Brown said he spoke to the Oregon National Guard Brig. General William J. Prendergast IV and he agreed to send guards.

“We continue to see how we can use every tool we have to quickly vaccinate Oregon residents,” Brown told a news conference. “In that spirit, I asked General Prendergast to support and coordinate distribution efforts with local public health. We are deploying the National Guard to provide support for vaccination.”

What will the guard do? Major Stephen Bomar told WW that the posted members of the guard are trained health professionals and doctors who will administer the vaccines themselves. They will provide support, keeping track of the number of vaccines administered to people, as well as keeping doses refrigerated.

The Oregon Health Authority is coordinating with different groups to achieve the daily vaccination goal, said Brown, as well as Oregon Health & Science University, which is tracking hard-to-reach health professionals, such as home health professionals, specialists in behavioral health and first responders.

OHA Director Patrick Allen added: “Since January 6, Oregon has received a cumulative total of 128,700 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 121,400 doses of the Modern vaccine for a total of 250,100 doses. As of yesterday, Oregon has vaccinated a total of 73,286 professionals health workers, rescuers and others, as well as employees and residents in qualified nursing centers. “

Nationally, Oregon is currently in the middle of the list of vaccinated residents per capita, with 1.5% of vaccinated residents. It is ahead of California with 1.3%, but behind Washington with 1.6%. (The state does much less well in analyzing how much of its vaccine supply has been used, ranking third in the country).

Allen says that because Oregon’s infection rate was lower than that of many other states, Oregon is more susceptible to another peak that could result in more hospitalizations and deaths, so it is crucial that the state administer vaccines in one faster pace.

“These partnerships and creative thinking are like we do in Oregon,” says Governor Brown. “That’s how we’re going to achieve that critical mass community immunity that we need.”