STATE
SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 7A
Biden, Brown shift vaccine doses to where demand is high
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Hoping to pick up the pace
of vaccinations, state and fed-
eral health offi cials are ditching
their population-based distri-
bution game plans to get more
doses where they are wanted and
needed.
President Joe Biden wants 70%
of American adults fully vacci-
nated by July 4. The goal trans-
lates to about 160 million people.
Currently, 105 million American
adults are fully vaccinated.
To get there, Biden announced
Tuesday, May 4, that he was
ending the system that sent
weekly shipments of vaccine to
states in amounts based on their
population.
The move will send more vac-
cine to places where demand
is high, with additional supply
drawn from areas where vac-
cine sits unused in medical
refrigerators.
Allotments to states that do
not want or cannot use more vac-
cine will go into a federal “vac-
cine bank.” States where shots are
in demand will be able to order
up to 50% more than their current
allotments.
Oregon’s infection rate
No. 1 in U.S.
Oregon, California and Mich-
igan are among states saying they
still need more vaccine to meet
demand. On the fl ip side, West
Virginia has reported a surplus
of vaccine and Arkansas offi cials
said the state no longer wants
weekly shipments.
With Oregon one of 12 states
seeing an increase in COVID-19
cases, the state plans to withdraw
from the vaccine bank quickly.
“Oregon will ask for the max-
imum allowed, which will help us
to get shots in arms faster,” Gov.
Kate Brown said Tuesday.
On April 27, Oregon’s infection
rate had grown by 53% over the
previous two weeks, the highest
mark in the nation.
COVID-19 infections are still
rising in Oregon, but more slowly.
Cases have risen only 12% over
the past two weeks. Oregon’s 33%
increase in hospitalizations over
the same time is the third highest
in the nation, behind Alaska and
Kansas.
Nationwide, the infection
rate is down 26% in the past two
weeks.
The strongest piece of positive
news came at the end of April,
when Oregon recorded its fewest
COVID-19 deaths in a month
since the beginning of the crisis
in March 2020. Oregon currently
has the fi fth lowest death rate
per 100,000 people in the United
States. Alaska, Vermont, Hawaii
and Idaho have lower rates.
‘Vaccine hesitancy’ high in
Oregon
The Oregon Health Authority
reported Thursday that just under
37% of state residents age 16
and older were fully vaccinated.
Another 15% have had one shot
and have scheduled their second
dose.
Just as there are states that
eagerly desire the vaccine while
others shun it, counties in Oregon
show the same pattern.
Vaccination rates of residents
16 and older have varied widely
across the 36 counties, from 64%
in Benton and Hood River coun-
ties to less than 32% in Lake,
Umatilla and Malheur counties.
That’s led to shifting more
vaccine to areas where it is in
demand, including Portland.
Umatilla County Commis-
sioner George Murdock told the
East Oregonian that some of the
reasons for the low turnout to get
shots were political.
Though ex-President Donald
Trump was vaccinated, some see
vaccination refusal as an exten-
sion of the opposition to Brown’s
orders closing businesses that
angered many in the area.
“The polling seems to show
older Republican men seem to be
the group who least likely want
to get the vaccination,” Murdock
said. “But I’m an absolute con-
trast to that. I’m old, I’m a Repub-
lican and I couldn’t wait to get
mine fast enough.”
Oregon has the highest rate of
“vaccine hesitancy” on the West
Coast, with 15% of residents
saying they are unsure or don’t
want to get the shots, according
to a report this week from the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
In contrast, California and
Washington are reporting about
11% of the population is unsure
or doesn’t want to be inocu-
lated. California offi cials said the
highest rates of negative response
were in the northern tier of rural
counties nearest the Oregon
border.
Oregon also has dealt with
what OHA Director Pat Allen
has called “vaccine belligerency,”
an active opposition to not only
being inoculated, but at times
protesting those who choose to
get the vaccine. Incidents have
included the heckling by anti-vac-
cination hardliners of Bend high
school students at a school-spon-
sored clinic.
More steps to increase
vaccinations
Other steps are being taken to
get more “impulse vaccinations”
by off ering shots without appoint-
ments. Many people across the
country and in Oregon have
expressed frustration with mul-
tiple, sometimes clunky websites
required to make appointments.
Now, it’s possible to just show up
and roll up a sleeve.
Both federal and state health
offi cials have said that they will
also increasingly fi nd ways to
get vaccine to people instead of
people to the vaccine. This will
include mobile clinics, pop-up
sites and vaccination days at
major employers.
Over the entire pandemic that
began in China on Dec. 31, 2019,
Oregon has had the third lowest
per capita number of cases in
the nation, at 4,432 per 100,000.
Though the rise in infections
has been sharp, Oregon’s long-
standing place near the bottom of
cases and deaths means that its
per capita number of cases pushed
it no higher than 12th place.
Oregon was among about a
half dozen states with the lowest
infection and death rates over
the course of the pandemic. Just
over 2,500 deaths were reported
by Oregon out of the more than
575,000 deaths in the U.S.
Biden said Tuesday he hoped
the more people see the vaccine
curbing COVID-19, the more
he hopes they will change their
minds and be inoculated, if not for
themselves, then for family and
friends.
“I think the end of the day,
most people will be convinced by
the fact that their failure to get the
vaccine may cause other people to
get sick and possibly die,” Biden
said.
There is no vaccine approved
for children. Pfi zer announced it
will ask for federal approval for
emergency use of its vaccine on
children as young as 2. The com-
pany said the approval could come
as early as next week.
Bipartisan bill would bar party bosses from holding offi ce
Sens. Bill Hansell, Lynn Findley say
concerns from constitutes prompted bill
By CARISA CEGAVSKE
The News-Review via AP StoryShare
SALEM — A newly
proposed bill would bar
state Sen. Dallas Heard,
R-Myrtle Creek, from
holding offi ce in the
Oregon Republican Party
while simultaneously
serving as a state elected
offi cial.
The bill’s sponsors
argued there are poten-
tial confl icts of interest
involved in holding both
party and legislative posi-
tions, but Heard told The
News-Review the bill
would take away the rights
of the people to choose
their leaders for both party
and Legislature.
“Why should the people
have the person they’ve
chosen to serve them in
either position ripped
away from them through
no choice of their own,
but through the choice of
a few elitists up in Salem
from both parties?” Heard
said.
Two of Heard’s fellow
Republicans, Sens. Bill
Hansell of Athena and
Lynn Findley of Vale,
introduced Senate Bill
865 on Wednesday, May
5, along with Democratic
Senate Majority Leader
Rob Wagner of Lake
Oswego.
The bill would also
impact state Sen. Dennis
Linthicum, R-Klamath
Falls, who is the treasurer
of the Republican Party. In
addition to legislators, the
bill would bar governors,
Supreme Court justices
and other elected state offi -
cials from becoming offi ce
holders of any political
party.
Elected offi cials who
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violated the rule would be
charged $250 per day.
Heard has been chair-
person of the Oregon
Republican Party, which
is a separate entity from
the Legislature, since
February.
Heard has been at the
center of controversy at
the state Capitol more than
once over the past year,
especially over COVID-19
safety restrictions.
In March, he pledged
to vote “no” on every bill
until the Capitol building
was reopened to the public.
In December, he
removed his mask on the
Senate fl oor, to protest
COVID-19 safety rules.
During a protest at the
state Capitol on Jan. 6,
in which demonstrators
called for the building to
reopen to the public, Heard
had this to say about state
leaders as he gestured to
the state Capitol.
“Don’t let any of these
punks from that stone
temple over there ever tell
you they are better than
any of you. Trust me, I
work with these fools.
None of them are half as
good as any of you and you
need to bring the power to
them,” he said.
OPB reported Hansell
and Findley said in a joint
statement they had been
contacted by constituents
who were concerned about
mixing party politics with
legislative policy.
There’s no guarantee
SB 865 will pass, but if it
does Heard said he would
challenge it on principle.