THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
VACCINES
COACH
VACCINE ELIGIBILITY
Continued from Page 1A
The fi nal two groups are
everyone else 45 and older
on June 1 and everyone 16
and older on July 1.
President Joe Biden has
set May 1 as the date when
states should open eligi-
bility to all those 16 and
older. But Gov. Kate Brown
said the state would stick
with its current priority
system until there is a fi rm
commitment from federal
health authorities of a major
increase in vaccine being
sent to the state.
Oregon health offi cials
felt burned in January when
they announced eligibility
for everyone over 65 based
on what turned out to be
an erroneous statement by
federal health offi cials in
the Trump administration.
Brown had to reverse the
order and restore a tiered
priority system.
Since the arrival of the
fi rst vaccines from Pfi zer
and Moderna in December,
about 1.36 million people
in Oregon are in the nine
priority groups already
eligible.
But the state on
Wednesday, March 17,
reported total shots of
1,363,311. The vast majority
of the shots are the Pfi zer
and Moderna vaccines,
which require two shots
spaced about a month apart.
That translates into
almost 682,000 two-shot
inoculations, enough for
less than half of those eli-
gible. The gap between eli-
gibility and availability has
resulted in widespread frus-
tration over trying to book
appointments with county
health authorities, phar-
macies or other medical
providers.
Recently, the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine that
requires just one shot
arrived in Oregon.
Through Wednesday, a
total of 1,777,145 doses of
vaccines have been deliv-
LOGJAM
Continued from Page 1A
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, has
countered by cutting into
breaks and extending eve-
ning fl oor sessions.
Bill for Oregon MIA
advances
The fi rst bill of the day
that was read out loud had
complete bipartisan support.
The House unanimously
approved HB 2700, which
would include Oregonians
who were listed as missing
in action in wars, but whose
remains were later found
and returned to Oregon,
among those eligible for
roadside memorial signs.
The bill is being cham-
pioned by veterans activist
Dick Tobiason of the Bend
Heroes Foundation. Rep.
Jack Zika, R-Redmond,
thanked Tobiason on behalf
of the Legislature for
bringing the issue to them.
“They may be gone, but
are not forgotten,” Zika
said.
The bill next goes to the
Phase 1A (December 2020): 400,000
• Medical and health care workers, people and staff in nursing
homes, home care workers, disabled receiving care at home.
Phase 1B (Jan. 25) — Educators: 153,000
• Teachers, schools staff, day care workers.
Phase IB (Feb. 8 — March 1) — Over 65: 795,000
• Rolling eligibility that began with those 80 and older on Feb.
8 and dropped fi ve years each week until everyone 65 and over
was eligible.
• Court order for corrections facilities (Feb. 2): 15,000
• A federal court order added inmates and staff at correctional
institutions to be retroactively added to Phase 1A eligibility.
Phase 1B, Group 6 (March 29): 530,000
• Adults 45–64 with health conditions that put them at increased
risk of severe illness or death from infection. People 16 and older
who are pregnant. Homeless people. Many food processing
workers and farmworkers. Many senior housing residents not
previously covered. People displaced by wildfi res and wildland
fi refi ghters.
Phase 1B, Group 7 (May 1): 550,000
• People age 16–44 with underlying health conditions at risk
of severe illness or death from infection. Frontline workers as
defi ned by CDC. Multigenerational household members.
Phase 2, Group 1 (June 1): Number not yet released
• Everyone 45 and older.
Phase 2, Group 2 (July 1): Number not yet released
• Everyone 16 and older: TBD
Future group: Children: No date or number yet released
• There are no vaccines approved for those under 16, though
Moderna has begun trials on a version of its vaccine.
ered to Oregon.
Oregon has averaged
about 24,000 shots per day,
putting it in the middle of
states nationwide.
Because of Brown’s
decision to prioritize edu-
cators over seniors in Jan-
uary, the state is below the
national average for seniors
who have been inoculated.
Though vaccine is pro-
vided through the federal
government and the Cen-
ters for Disease Control has
a suggested prioritization
list, states ultimately have
authority to decide who gets
inoculated at what point.
Oregon has been one
of the safest places in the
country during the pan-
demic. The state has the
fourth lowest number
of COVID-19 cases per
capita among all states,
according to an ongoing
count by the New York
Times. Only Hawaii, Ver-
mont and Maine have per-
formed better since the
fi rst COVID-19 case was
reported in Washington on
Jan. 21, 2020.
Over the past week,
Oregon has the second
lowest number of cases per
capita, with only Hawaii
reporting fewer infections.
Oregon has the fi fth
lowest per capita fatality
rate since the pandemic
began, with Hawaii, Ver-
mont, Alaska and Maine
reporting lower.
Over the past week,
Oregon has the third lowest
per capita fatality rate, with
only Alaska and Hawaii
scoring lower.
OHA reported Oregon
as of March 17 has had
160,259 cases of COVID-19
and 2,349 deaths since Feb-
ruary 2020. Union Coun-
ty’s case total stood at 1,338
with 20 fatalities. Wallowa
County’s total was 144
cases and fi ve deaths.
Nationwide, there have
been more than 29.5 mil-
lion COVID-19 cases,
with 536,978 deaths as of
the morning of March 17,
according to the Johns Hop-
kins Coronavirus Resource
Center. Worldwide, there
have been more than
120.8 million cases and
2.67 million deaths.
Senate, where passage is
expected.
About 1,000 service-
members from Oregon
remain MIA, mostly from
World War II.
Hearings on the pro-
gram and other educa-
tion spending continued
Wednesday, March 17.
Power trio appears
at subcommittee
meeting
The three most pow-
erful politicians in Salem
appeared together — vir-
tually — on Monday for a
Joint Ways & Means Sub-
committee on Education
hearing.
Gov. Kate Brown, Senate
President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, and Kotek spoke
in support of their joint pro-
posal for a $250 million
summer learning and child
care package.
Supporters say the pro-
gram will help thousands
of Oregon children catch up
on learning and socializing
after a year of mostly vir-
tual schooling. The legis-
lation “will set our kids up
for success by letting them
be kids again, in environ-
ments that foster creativity,
learning and joy,” Brown
said.
Republicans push for
Capitol reopening
Senate Republicans who
staged a one-day walkout
last month, and their coun-
terparts in the House
requiring the reading of
bills in full, both say one
of the central issues is their
demand to reopen the Cap-
itol to the public.
“What the people of
Oregon want is for this Cap-
itol to be open and to have
access to in-person hear-
ings,” said Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend, during comments
on the Senate fl oor March
11. “Many other states are
already doing this with
greater COVID problems
than exist in Oregon today.”
The Capitol has been
closed for a year because of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ZIP code around the
Capitol has had the highest
number of positive cases of
any in the state.
Control of the Capitol
falls to the Legislature.
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Howe’s resignation
included an apology.
“I am deeply sorry for
any hurt I have caused
my students, coaches and
community members,
staff members or board
members,” Howe said
in his prepared remarks.
“That was not my intent.
It was never my intent to
undermine other sports
programs or coaches. If
that occurred, I apologize
for that.”
Six parents and Wal-
lowa School District
staff at the meeting
spoke during the public
comment period. Most
expressed support for
the school, and for Jones,
who came under fi re at
the March 8 meeting, as
a competent and caring
administrator.
Wallowa fi rst-grade
teacher Kelsey Layton
praised Jones for
“inspiring, encouraging
and working alongside of
us to build relationships
with (teachers) and fami-
lies during this unprece-
dented year.”
“Students are the No.
1 concern,” said Melissa
Lowe, who teaches Title
1 classes. “We need to
remember in our commu-
nity that education safety
and well-being of our stu-
dents, your children, and
education should be fi rst
and foremost, not sports.”
But parent Joe Miles
criticized the school
board for a lack of com-
RESERVES
Continued from Page 1A
he said. “That’s no kid-
ding. That’s from patrol to
corrections.”
Primarily, the reserves
will ride with full-time
staff , but there will be
opportunities for the
reserve offi cers to do
security work for events
in the future.
“I would like to see it
rolled out now, but hon-
estly, it’s going to be
April before we get all the
applications in,” Bowen
said.
“It takes time. The
sooner the better,” he
added. “We got the
Eastern Oregon Live-
stock Show that’s coming
up. They’re gonna do the
rodeo this year. Hopefully
we’ll have some reserves
that are ready to go by
then.”
Bowen also said he
plans to add a cadet
program that will train
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
David Howe, Wallowa High School’s principal and girls
basketball coach, reads his letter of resignation from the
coaching post to the Wallowa School Board on Monday,
March 15, 2021.
munity and educational
leadership.
“I support you guys,
but at the same time I
do have a higher expec-
tation of anybody in a
leadership position,” he
said. “There’s a lot of
frustrated people in this
community.”
Those thoughts echoed
some of the comments
made to the school board
at the March 8 meeting.
They included concerns
about lack of respect for
students, student ath-
letes and Wallowa’s rural
culture.
At the well-attended
March 8 meeting, the
entire WHS senior
class presented a letter
regarding parts of the
school’s mask policy. Spe-
cifi cally, the seniors were
speaking against them
being the ones called on
to enforce the school’s
mask mandates rather
than administrators. They
also spoke on concerns
that this year’s senior
trip might be canceled
due to the seniors’ lack
of enforcement of mask-
wearing by all students in
the high school.
But the trip still is on,
Jones said.
It is tentatively planned
as a three-day jaunt either
to the Oregon Coast or
Triple Play Family Fun
Park in Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho.
The fi nal decision on
destination and COVID
protocols will be made as
the date gets nearer, she
said.
“I think COVID defi -
nitely has placed a lot of
stress on families and the
community,” Jones said.
“The more we can have
kids have more normality,
the better off the kids are.”
alongside the reserve
offi cers.
“Working as a school
resource offi cer, I saw
a lot of our kids in high
school who are interested
in law enforcement, but
there’s nothing that holds
them in that fi eld, if you
will, between the ages of
18 to 21, and we end up
losing them in that profes-
sion,” said Bowen. “They
go fi nd something else.”
Deputy Dustin Heath
will be the coordinator for
the reserve program, and
deputies Justin Hernandez
and Tony Humphries will
serve as co-coordinators,
while deputy Patricia
Kelly will be leading the
cadet program for the
offi ce — a program she
went through as a young
offi cer.
Cadets won’t carry
fi rearms, but they will
receive basic training on
self-defense and confl ict
resolution. The reserves
and the cadets will train
under the same conditions
and receive much of the
same coursework through
the program at the sher-
iff ’s offi ce.
Like the fi re depart-
ment volunteer program,
Bowen said, the reserve
program expects to lose
about half of their appli-
cants through the training
process before graduation
— usually due to time
commitments or lack of
suitability or motivation
to complete the program.
The program itself will
take approximately six
months to complete.
Those accepted by the
sheriff ’s offi ce into the pro-
gram will have to provide
their own gear and equip-
ment, although the sher-
iff ’s offi ce will provide
critical safety equipment,
such as vests and uni-
forms. If necessary, dep-
uties will donate or lend
gear to those who need it.
“We’re not going to
lose anybody,” Bowen
said, “because they can’t
aff ord to do it.”
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