In a change that surprised and upset some of its own employees, Oregon Health & Science University offered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to all of its employees and students, including those who work from home and others who may not meet the Definition frontline health personnel CDC.
The university hospital made the vaccine available to its staff and students without considering the risk of exposure to the virus, since doses remain relatively low in Oregon.
More than half of the frontline health workers in Multnomah County have not yet been vaccinated as of Friday, and the vaccine’s launch in Oregon has lagged behind in other states and Governor Kate Brown’s stated expectations.
Related: Why did the launch of Oregon’s COVID-19 vaccine lag behind other states?
Other groups at high risk of exposure to COVID-19, including prisoners, food processing and farm workers, are weeks or months away from being eligible for the vaccine. Just over 1% of Oregon’s inhabitants have been vaccinated so far.
Local health systems have a varied approach to their distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. OHSU made the vaccine available to its employees and students, and the Providence Health System also gave the vaccine to employees who are not at any risk of patient exposure. Meanwhile, Kaiser and Legacy Health said they were focusing only on the frontline health workers.
Christophe Ena / AP
However, although the vaccine is scarce, some hospitals in Oregon have a surplus and have struggled to get COVID-19 vaccines into people’s arms as soon as they arrive, with more shipments arriving each week.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Health Authority released a policy update directing vaccinators to focus on efficiency and maximizing the number of vaccines administered. This guidance does not yet clarify whether people who work in administrative functions in the health field, without increasing the risk of exposure, should be considered in the initial phase of distribution of the vaccine, known as 1a.
The CDC’s definition of health personnel, cited in Oregon’s vaccine distribution plan, includes some, but not all, administrative staff. It states that health personnel eligible for the first initial round of vaccination include “people not directly involved in patient care, but who could be exposed to infectious agents that can be transmitted in the health environment”, with people providing laundry, security and charging services as examples.
Oregon’s vaccine distribution plan emphasizes that 1st healthcare professionals are those “who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials”.
Related: OHSU statement on its COVID-19 vaccination policy
OHSU made the announcement that anyone could be vaccinated in an internal message sent to employees on Sunday, which also revealed a new registration system.
“With the latest COVID-19 forecast showing another peak projected in just a few weeks, we must act now to change the trajectory of the virus and increase the number of Oregon residents who are vaccinated,” the message said.
“We are finalizing the vaccination of our health frontline, which means that we are opening the vaccine schedule to all employees and students. You can now book using the links below until Wednesday, January 6th, even if you are outside the 1-6 wave category. “
The OHSU team recently started receiving its second Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Josh Andersen / Photo courtesy of Oregon Health & Science University
OHSU had previously created a system of six waves of employees who would be vaccinated sequentially based on the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and the importance of their work.
The first five waves included all health personnel, critical support staff and administrators with regular work on campus.
“In recognition of the urgency to vaccinate all members as soon as possible, we will not be prioritizing or under-prioritizing members going forward,” the message announced.
The day after OHSU changed its policy, Brown said the Oregon Health Authority was acting very slowly in delivering the vaccine and announced a new target of 12,000 vaccinations a day.
Related: Very slow Oregon vaccine launch, says Governor Kate Brown
Connie Seeley, managing director of OHSU, serves as Brown’s special advisor for the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine.
OHSU did not make anyone available for an interview and did not respond to written questions about its vaccination program, including why employees able to work from home were included. In a written statement, a hospital spokeswoman defended the decision to vaccinate all staff and students and said there was state approval.
“As we started to vaccinate priority groups quickly and efficiently, we were able to start offering vaccines to all employees and students with OHA approval – as of 8 am on Friday, January 8, OHSU received 19,250 doses and administered 14,068 vaccines, ”said spokeswoman Tamara Hargens-Bradley.
Nathan Olague, on the left, and Manjula Raghu are among the first five people to receive the COVID-19 vaccines at Legacy Emanuel in December. Legacy Health says it is focusing on vaccinating frontline health workers.
Dave Killen / The Oregonian
The Providence Health System also gave the vaccine to employees who are not at risk of exposure to the patient. Meanwhile, Kaiser and Legacy Health told KGW News that they were focusing only on the frontline healthcare professionals.
The announcement surprised some OHSU health professionals who work on the main campus, were still waiting for vaccination and were told they would be notified by their managers when it was their turn to be vaccinated. According to comments posted on an internal employee forum, this sparked a race of employees trying to sign up for slots available online that some compared to the “Hunger Games” series or trying to get tickets to the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton”.
Excuses, frustrations
Some employees who work at home and signed up to get vaccinated posted on the forum apologizing and asking if they could give their hours to colleagues who needed the vaccine.
The news of the e-mail spread quickly to the public. Amanda Blum, 44, is a technology strategist who lives in southeastern Portland. Blum has an autoimmune disorder, Pemphigus vulgaris, which requires that she be taking an immune-suppressing medication. Her condition, along with being overweight, puts her at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.
“They are prioritizing people who just have nothing to do with it now,” said Blum.
Blum said that because of her immune-suppressing drugs, she has spent the past 11 months in total isolation, working from home, without any personal human contact. She is looking forward to being vaccinated. Blum doesn’t expect to get close to the start of the line.
“Whenever I saw one of my medical friends do this, I was moved by them. They need it, ”she said.
But she was surprised to learn that friends and neighbors who work for Providence and OHSU and have no interaction with patients are being vaccinated.
“One of my friends dripped me. They register institutional gifts for a healthcare company. They were apologizing to me. I was like, I’m happy for you and also furious, ”she said.
“Why is no one pushing against OHSU and Providence and those groups that are doing this?” Asked Blum. “I think it’s negligence and I’m furious with OHA, for not stomping my foot.”
At a news conference this week, reporters asked Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen about health care staff with no specific risk of exposure to the virus that was receiving the vaccine. Allen replied that he had recently learned that people who were not yet eligible for the vaccine under state and federal guidelines were receiving it.
Related: Teachers ask Oregon Governor for vaccines and resources before resuming face-to-face classes
“We are aware of vaccinators who are vaccinating teams, going beyond the definitions of category 1a, who are really people at risk of contact with the patient,” he said.
Allen added that the problem was “a little more widespread” than he initially thought, and said that OHA would issue guidelines to discontinue the practice.
OPB requested a copy of this guidance and received it yesterday. It did not include any further clarification as to whether administrative staff or health workers working from home should be included in round 1a of vaccinations.
“OHA encourages those who administer vaccines to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are administered efficiently and effectively.” Anyone included in Phase 1a, Groups 1-4 is eligible for vaccines at this time. The most important priority now is to vaccinate as many people as possible in Phase 1a, ”said the agency.
The agency said it would publish additional guidelines on vaccine eligibility today.
Editor’s note: OHSU waited until this story was published to provide OPB with a written statement, which you can read in full here. It details OHSU’s plans to maintain drive-through vaccination clinics and make the COVID-19 vaccine available to other community health workers, first responders and dentists in the coming weeks.