OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022
Oregon has fi rst doses of Paxlovid treatment for COVID-19
By AMELIA TEMPLETON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon
has given most of its ini-
tial supply of Paxlovid, a
promising new antiviral
drug from Pfi zer to treat
COVID-19, to commu-
nity health clinics across
the state. The clinics, also
known as Federally Qual-
ifi ed Health Centers, pro-
vide primary care to low-in-
come, uninsured, rural, and
historically disadvantaged
populations.
Nationwide, the drug is
in extremely limited supply
due to the time it takes to
manufacture it. Oregon had
received just 680 doses of
Paxlovid as of Tuesday, Jan.
11.
The federal government
is allocating doses to states
based on their population,
and leaving it to states to
decide how to distribute it.
Doses from the state’s
initial allocation also went
to four hospitals that serve
as regional care hubs in
more rural parts of the
state: Peacehealth Riv-
erbend, Eugene, Salem
Health, St. Charles Health,
Bend, and Asante Three
Rivers Medical Center,
Grants Pass. The Oregon
Health Authority says 24
sites in total received some
doses.
The major health sys-
tems in the Portland metro
Pfi zer/Contributed Photo, File
This image provided by Pfi zer in October 2021 shows the company’s COVID-19 Paxlovid pills. U.S. health
regulators on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, authorized the fi rst pill against COVID-19, a Pfi zer drug that
Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst eff ects of the virus. Oregon has given most
of its initial supply of Paxlovid to community health clinics across the state.
area, Providence, Legacy
Health, Kaiser Permanente,
and Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University did not
receive any. OHSU’s outpa-
tient pharmacy submitted a
request for it last week but
hasn’t received a response
from OHA.
With the omicron wave
sweeping across the nation,
there are far fewer doses
currently available than
patients who might ben-
efi t from it, forcing states
to make diffi cult decisions
about allocation.
Rationing guidelines
from the National Institute
of Health recommend pri-
oritizing patients who face
the greatest risk factors
for progression to severe
COVID-19, including
elderly unvaccinated adults
and moderate to severely
immunocompromised
people, regardless of their
vaccination status.
The U.S. Department
of Health and Human Ser-
vices, which provides the
drug, is encouraging state
health departments to be
transparent about where the
drug is going, and to post
sites receiving it on their
websites.
The Oregon Health
Authority has shared a
brief overview of its health
equity focused plan online
but has not publicly posted
a list of all 24 sites that have
received the potentially life
saving drug. OPB initially
received more information
about the state’s distribu-
tion plan through a public
records request.
As additional doses
become available in the
coming weeks, OHA said
it is planning to expand the
list of hospitals receiving
the drug and make it avail-
able to a small group of
long term care “surge”
facilities.
The drug, which
received FDA emergency
use authorization last
month, was 89% eff ective
in preventing hospitaliza-
tion and death in high risk
patients.
It is approved for people
12 and older, and has to be
given within fi ve days of
symptom onset.
The state is priori-
tizing areas of Oregon
with the largest burden of
COVID-19 and targeting
racial and ethnic minority
groups that have been hit
hard by the pandemic,
according to OHA’s distri-
bution plan.
“Community health cen-
ters serve everyone, regard-
less of your ability to pay,
your immigration status,
your insurance, or your
status in life,” said Marty
Carty, government aff airs
director at the Oregon Pri-
mary Care Association, the
nonprofi t representing the
state’s 34 community health
centers.
“When the state is
thinking about how to equi-
tably distribute, and tar-
geting their health equity
goals, community health
centers is the absolute right
way to do this.”
Carty stressed that the
amount of the drug the
centers have received is
extremely limited, and that
the organizations handing
it out are short staff ed and
concerned publicity around
the new drug could have
a negative impact on their
work. The clinics are not
dispensing it on a fi rst-
come, fi rst-serve basis.
Carty says community
health centers, many of
which off er testing, vacci-
nation, and a wide range of
primary care, are well posi-
tioned to identify people
who might need the drug
and get it to them before
they become so sick they
need to be to hospitalized
— and no longer qualify for
the treatment.
About 40% of patients
at community health cen-
ters are Black, Indigenous,
or people of color. The
COVID-19 test positivity
rate for patients at com-
munity health centers has
been about twice the state
average, according to Carty.
Oregon’s targeted
approach to distributing
its limited supply contrasts
with many other states.
New York, Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Arizona
sent all or most of their
doses to commercial phar-
macy chains. Tennessee
sent all of its doses to
Walmart pharmacies.
The federal government
has separately allocated
15% of its doses to commu-
nity health clinics in every
state.
Question of Kristof candidacy to be decided by Oregon Supreme Court
By JIM REDDEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
Supreme Court has agreed
to consider the question
of whether former New
York Times journalist Nick
Kristof is eligible to run for
governor. Their decision
could come as soon as early
February.
Secretary of State
Shemia Fagan ruled in
early January that Kristof
had not lived in Oregon
long enough to run for
governor, saying the two-
time Pulitzer Prize-win-
ning journalist had regis-
tered and voted
in New York
while working
for the Times.
Kristof
challenged
the ruling in
Kristof
court the next
day, arguing he considers
his home to be in Yamhill,
where he was raised, owns
property and has returned
for summers for the past 30
years.
The supreme court
agreed to take up the case
on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
Kristof’s briefs are due by
Jan. 14. Fagan’s are due by
Jan. 20. Kristof’s response
is due by Jan. 26.
Oregon ballots must be
printed by March 17. In her
fi ling, Fagan said the court
would need to reach a fi nal
decision before that date, so
that ballots can be printed
and mailed on time, either
with Kristof’s name on it,
or not.
Kristof fi led as a Dem-
ocrat for governor on Dec.
20. Fagan’s offi ce, which
regulates elections, sent
him a letter the next day
asking for more proof of his
Oregon residency.
“Until late 2020 or early
2021, Mr. Kristof lived in
New York and has for the
past 20 years,” Fagan said.
“Until recently, he was
employed in New York.
He received his mail at his
New York address. He fi led
income taxes in New York.
And perhaps most impor-
tantly, Mr. Kristof voted as a
resident of New York for 20
years, including as recently
as November 2020.”
Kristof responded sev-
eral hours later during a
press conference of his
own, characterizing the
ruling as a political, not
legal, decision. He accused
Fagan, a fellow Democrat,
of being part of an estab-
lishment that favors other
Democrat candidates for
governor, such as former
Oregon House Speaker Tina
Kotek and State Treasurer
Tobias Read.
“My willingness to chal-
lenge the status quo is the
reason state offi cials want
to toss me from the ballot,”
Kristof said. “This was a
political decision, not one
based on the law.”
Fagan insisted her offi ce
reviewed Kristof as it would
have any other candidate.
“In the end, our election
offi cials told me it wasn’t
even a close call,” she said.
“And while there have been
creative legal arguments
Our Team of Local,
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Virus testing volume ‘never been higher’
State to receive
nearly 1 million
more test kits in the
next week
By MEERAH POWELL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon to
receive nearly one million
more test kits in the next
week, according to health
offi cials.
Oregon offi cials say they
are on track to receive a
total of six million at-home
COVID-19 test kits, or a
total of 12 million indi-
vidual tests, by the end of
January.
That includes nearly one
million test kits anticipated
in the next seven days.
The increase in testing
capacity comes as Ore-
gonians are stuck in lines
to get tested, and fi nding
empty store shelves where
at-home tests should be, all
while watching case num-
bers rise across the state.
“While it may seem
like a COVID-19 test is
impossible to fi nd, Ore-
gon’s testing volume has
never been higher than it
is today,” Oregon Health
Authority Director Patrick
Allen said in a press confer-
ence Thursday, Jan. 13.
The state ordered the
test kits near the end of last
year. So far, it has received
fewer than one million kits.
Although Oregon has
heightened its testing
capacity, demand for
COVID-19 tests has con-
tinued to increase with
the spread of the omicron
variant.
Oregon reported Jan.
13 9,797 new COVID-19
cases. The state’s seven-day
average of cases was just
more than 7,600 — a 128%
increase over the previous
week.
COVID-19-related hos-
pitalizations are also on the
rise. Allen with OHA said
as of yesterday there were
more than 750 hospitalized
COVID-19 patients. That’s
a 45% increase over the past
week.
Distribution of tests
Some states have off ered
“direct-to-consumer”
opportunities for obtaining
tests, but Allen said Oregon
will not be doing that.
Instead, Allen said the
six million at-home test kits
will be distributed to: hos-
pitals, schools, local public
health authorities, Tribal
governments, and commu-
nity-based organizations
that serve underrepresented
communities. He said
they’ll also go to Head Start
programs, and organiza-
tions that serve agricultural
workers and people experi-
encing homelessness.
“Our test distribution
strategy is grounded in fair-
ness and equity,” Allen
said. “We are prioritizing
the six million tests we’ve
purchased for organiza-
tions serving people who
are most exposed or most
vulnerable to COVID-19, or
people who have less access
to a test.”
The focus on under-
served populations is mir-
rored in the state’s plan for
the COVID-19 treatment,
Paxlovid.
Allen noted that OHA
is supporting 10 high-
volume vaccine sites in the
western half of the state,
six of which have testing
available.
“We are working to add
testing to the remaining
sites by next week through
partnerships with Cura-
tive and the federal govern-
ment,” Allen said.
Starting Jan. 15, the
Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde will open
a high-volume vaccina-
tion site at Spirit Moun-
tain Casino and testing will
be added in the next week,
Allen said.
Allen said the demand
for testing will remain high
for several more weeks.
For people who are
feeling sick, but are low-
risk for complications due
to COVID-19, and do not
have access to testing,
Allen said they should
assume their symptoms are
COVID-19 and take proper
isolation protocols as laid
out by the Centers for Dis-
ease Control.
Mari Dominguez, PMHNP-BC
and an impressive PR cam-
paign, given the evidence,
I venture that most Orego-
nians who are paying atten-
tion have reached the same
conclusion.”
In a previous letter to
Fagan’s offi ce, Kristof’s
attorneys said there has
only been one Oregon court
case that considered the
question of whether voter
registration determines res-
idency, an election for a
state House seat in 1974. A
Marion County judge ruled
that “the question of domi-
cile is largely one of intent,”
a precedent that supports
Kristof.
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