These 13 Oregon counties may begin to expand access to the vaccine ahead of schedule

Continuing with its plan to put doses of the vaccine in more arms across the state, the Oregon Health Authority announced on Monday that 13 counties could start giving doses to farm workers, homeless people and other vulnerable populations.

The measures follow Oregon’s announcement last week that it would accelerate vaccination deadlines to meet the Biden administration’s goal of having all adults eligible for a vaccine by May 1.

As part of this change, state health officials said that counties that complete eligible groups, such as the elderly, may request the state to move on to groups that may not be eligible yet.

Thirteen Oregon counties have applied for and received approval to proceed so far: Baker, Benton, Deschutes, Grant, Jefferson, Lake, Lincoln, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Polk, Umatilla and Union.

These counties will now be able to enter the vaccination priorities of Phase 1b, group 6, which includes adults aged 45 to 64 with an underlying health problem, seasonal and migrant farm workers, seafood and farm workers, food processors, people without ceiling, people displaced by forest fires, forest firefighters, pregnant women over 16 and people living in low-income facilities, members of the elderly and self-employed.

The state plans to update its Get Vaccinated Oregon online tool to reflect the changes.

People in other Oregon counties who are in Phase 1b, group 6, will largely have to wait until March 29, when that group will be eligible for the vaccine across the state.

To date, the Oregon Health Authority reports that it has administered just over 1.5 million doses of vaccines across the state.