Oregon began distributing COVID-19 vaccines on Monday to people aged 80 and over. It is the first stage in the launch of Oregon’s COVID-19 vaccine for the elderly. Over the next four weeks, the number of people eligible for vaccination will more than double, as people age 65 and older become eligible, one age group at a time. How each person will be vaccinated will depend on where they live – the process will be very different in each county. Oregon Health Authority officials anticipate “chaos” as new systems are tested.
Nancy and Ira Wikstrom were the first to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at a new location in Ridgefield, Washington, on January 26, 2021. The site was opened to provide more than 700 vaccines per day.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
The Oregon Health Authority announced a series of new changes to its website last week. During the first phase of the vaccine launch, some groups – such as health professionals who are not affiliated with a primary care system or home caregivers – were overlooked or had difficulty obtaining a vaccine.
OHA is launching a series of new tools to help fill these gaps. aims to target some of the cracks exposed in the initial reopening phases. But these tools, and those that previously existed, still need to be tested with such a large group of people. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned about this pandemic, it’s that any website, well designed or not, can be confusing and fail if it gets overwhelmed.
“I don’t think anyone has the illusion that the things we are implementing will create an immediate and ongoing experience for all seniors,” said Robb Cowie, Director of Communications at OHA, “And we know, especially for the senior population, technology is not always is easy. “
To try to make things a little less confusing, here is a list of resources that includes frequently asked questions, troubleshooting tips and guidance for those who are not yet qualified to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Oregon Health Authority determines who is eligible to be vaccinated and decides how many vaccines from the state’s weekly shipments will be sent to each county. Details on how the portion of each municipality will be distributed are the responsibility of local public health authorities. The best way to get vaccines to people in
Related: Oregon’s plan to win COVID-19, an illustrated guide
the Portland area will be very different from the best way to provide vaccines to people in Harney County, so the implementations will be very different in each of Oregon’s counties.
Some counties are already using their vaccine quotas for target groups that have not closed gaps elsewhere in the launch. Some counties will also move faster than others: some counties already started vaccinating people aged 80 and over last week, when they finished vaccinating people who were already eligible and wanted the vaccine.
This week, vaccines are only available to people aged 80 and over and people who were already eligible. Here’s what we know about who comes next. Other seniors may also schedule vaccinations for future dates starting today, but that will change depending on the county.
- February 15 – People aged 75 and over become eligible
- February 22 – People aged 70 and over become eligible
- March 1 – People aged 65 and over become eligible
There are almost 800,000 additional people and there are still people in group 1a who have not yet received the vaccine. Oregon is expected to receive about 75,000 first doses of the vaccine each week, although that number may increase as more vaccines become available. The Oregon Health Authority estimates that, at this rate, 75% of eligible seniors will have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in early April.
Once 75% of the elderly, teachers and members of phase 1a have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Oregon Health Authority will begin making vaccines available to other groups.
If you are 80 or older, there is a good chance that you will get the COVID-19 vaccine very quickly. People aged 75 and over may also find it easier.
But the number of people who become eligible increases as the age limit for the elderly decreases. Demand for vaccines will quickly exceed supply, according to OHA data.
“The difference between eligible people and the number of vaccines is very large at the beginning, and it will only increase for a while,” explained OHA director Patrick Allen.
Many people will not be able to schedule their first vaccination until the end of March. If appointments are full when you try to register, try again later.
There are currently two tools available to help people find out if they qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine and to help connect them to consultations.
The first system is a chatbot on the OHA website that tells you if you are eligible and helps people book appointments. Only works in English and Spanish. The second is a Google tool, called Get Vaccinated Oregon, that will connect people to vaccination events in your region. It will be available in 12 languages. It will be available on the OHA COVID-19 vaccination page.
Go to the Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 vaccination website, covidvaccine.oregon.gov. Scroll to the middle of the page (it is a very large page) and look for the link that says “vaccine eligibility”. Then click on “Let’s get started”. A chatbot – which is actually just an interactive survey – will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen. Follow the chatbot instructions. It will direct you to a page to book your appointment.
Step 1 is to always refresh the page and start over. If you accidentally leave the page, the bot (usually) will remember the information you entered earlier.
This can be a problem if you make a mistake, but the bot includes a “restart” button that clears your previous conversation. Some users have reported that the button does not work. If this happens, try clearing your browser’s cookies before reloading the page.
Clearing cookies is easy, but you do it differently in each browser. Google “how to clear cookies” and the name of your browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, etc.) and the operating system you were using (such as Windows, Mac, iOS and Android).
The OHA maintains a page with links to vaccination information in different countries. You can find more information there, but you may also need to wait until new appointments are opened and try again.
The Oregon Health Authority has partnered with Google to create this new vaccine registration tool. People can use the tool to enter information about their age, risk factors, work and location. The tool will notify you of vaccine events that you qualify for in your area.
This tool was due to be released on Monday, but at the time of posting, it did not appear to be online. We will update this story with tips and tricks once the system is implemented.
Your best bet is to try again at a less busy time. Hours before 9 am and after 9 pm are usually less busy. But vaccination points are attended to on a first-come, first-served basis, so it is also possible that appointments are full if you wait too long to register.
The state maintains a COVID-19 helpline, reached by calling 211. This line has experienced long waiting times, so Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced on Friday that she will mobilize an additional 30 National Guard soldiers to help equip the line.
But the line may still be full.
Since the line may be busy, there is also a line of text available to help. You can also send a text message to ORCOVID to 898211 to receive this information.
The Oregon Health Authority is distributing vaccines to the elderly, one age group at a time, to prevent congestion. But some are still inevitable.
Although people over 80 can make appointments, Allen of OHA asked people under 80 to wait a while to register. If you are someone who can easily stay home and is unlikely to get sick, you can help more people at risk get vaccinated by waiting a few weeks – even after your group is qualified to make an appointment.
“We want to ask the elderly to wait a while to allow more than 80 people to access the system,” said Allen.
As soon as the initial flow of people decreases, any technical difficulties or delays should begin to decrease.
You can also help by using the chatbot or by texting ORCOVID to 898221 (see above) before trying the 211 helpline. If a question cannot be answered in this way, call 211 as a last resort.
You will receive information about scheduling a second dose after receiving your first dose.
Spanish is supported on the OHA website and by its chatbot. Spanish speakers are also available on the hotline 211. Translations can also be provided by the Oregon Health Authority by contacting the Health Information Center at 1-971-673-2411
It is possible to access most of the OHA website using Google Translate, although the translations may not be entirely accurate. You can do this by downloading this application.
211info.org/COVID also contains resources in several languages.
Large text and braille versions of OHA documents are also available. To access them, contact the Health Information Center at 1-971-673-2411. The website for 211, 211info.org/COVID, contains information on how to access health resources for deaf or hard of hearing people and TTY numbers for relevant agencies.
To contact the Health Information Center via TTY, dial 711 before calling 1-971-673-2411.