Oregon is behind 40 other states for its slow pace of getting coronavirus vaccines, federal data show, leaving vaccine implantation behind as the state’s death toll reached 1,500 on Sunday.
Oregon has given 48,725 vaccines since the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was approved on December 11. But Oregon received 190,500 doses, which means that about 141,000 doses are still stored in the boxes as the virus continues to spread and transform. The state health authority said 1,700 doses were administered yesterday and another 1,700 injections were recorded in previous days.
At a rate of 3,400 vaccines per day, it would take until May 2024 to vaccinate all 4.2 million Oregon residents.
About 75% of doses received in Oregon have yet to be administered, worse than the national average of 67%, according to data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday.
Across the country, up to Saturday, 4.2 million injections were administered out of 13 million doses administered.
CDC data shows Oregon behind some states by wide margins. Nine states gave more than half of the doses they received. Three of them – Connecticut, North Dakota and South Dakota – administered about two-thirds of the doses they received.
The Oregon Health Authority and Governor Kate Brown did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday about what explains the slow pace of an implementation that took months to plan.
The federal leaders behind Operation Warp Speed, the government’s vaccination campaign, said they expect the pace to pick up in the coming weeks.
– Rob Davis
503,294,7657; @robwdavis
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