REGION
Saturday, February 20, 2021
A3
East Oregonian
Umatilla County child dies with COVID-19
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— The Oregon Health
Authority has reported the
state’s first COVID-19-re-
lated death of a child between
0-9 years old — an infant boy
from Umatilla County.
The boy tested positive
for COVID-19 on Jan. 17 and
died that same day at Kadlec
Regional Medical Center
in Richland, Washington,
according to a press release
from OHA on Thursday, Feb.
18. He had unspecifi ed under-
lying health conditions.
“Ever y death f rom
COVID-19 is a tragedy,
even more so the death of a
child,” Dr. Dean Sidelinger,
OHA’s health offi cer and state
epidemiologist, said in a press
release. “The death of an
infant is extremely rare. This
news represents a tremen-
dous loss to the mother and
family. My thoughts are with
them during this difficult
time.”
Children who contract
COVID-19 are less likely to
develop severe symptoms
than adults, but they are still
at risk, Sidelinger said. The
state encourages all parents
with children who test posi-
tive and develop certain
symptoms to seek emergency
medical care.
Those symptoms include
troubled breathing, constant
pain or pressure in the chest,
County announces vaccine
clinic schedule through April
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Umatilla
County Public Health released
on Thursday, Feb. 18, a sched-
ule for COVID-19 vaccina-
tions that runs through the
end of April.
The department also
announced that, due to
inclement weather, the
vaccine doses expected for
Friday, Feb. 19, would not be
available and that clinic would
be postponed to Wednesday,
Feb. 24, at 2260 S.E. Court
Ave. in Pendleton. Those who
made a vaccine appointment
for the Feb. 19 clinic should
show up at the same time on
Feb. 24 instead.
The county released the
following vaccination clinic
schedule for future vaccines:
• Feb. 26, Hermiston
drive-thru, second doses
only
• March 4, Pendleton
drive-thru, fi rst and second
doses
• March 5, Pendleton
drive-thru, fi rst and second
doses
• March 10, Pendleton by
appointment, second doses
only
• March 11, Milton-Free-
water drive-thru, fi rst and
second doses
• March 12, Pendleton
drive-thru, fi rst and second
doses
• March 25, Milton-Free-
water drive-thru, fi rst and
second doses
• March 26, Pendleton
drive-thru, fi rst and second
doses
• April 2, Pendleton
drive-thru, second doses
(fi rst doses may be avail-
able depending on alloca-
tion)
• April 8, Milton-Free-
water drive-thru, second
doses (fi rst doses may be
available depending on
allocation)
• April 9, Pendleton
drive-thru, second doses
(fi rst doses may be avail-
able depending on alloca-
tion)
• April 22, Milton-Free-
water drive-thru, second
doses (fi rst doses may be
available depending on
allocation)
• April 23, Pendleton
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Christina Garcia, right, receives her fi rst shot of the COVID-19
vaccine from Sharon Waldern during a vaccination clinic at
Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston on Friday, Feb.
12, 2021. Garcia, who works as a caregiver, said she had been
anxiously waiting to get her vaccine. “I was really excited to
be able to get it today,” she said.
drive-thru, second doses
(fi rst doses may be avail-
able depending on alloca-
tion)
Residents eligible for the
vaccine can check bit.ly/
ucohealthcovidvaccine on
Mondays at 8 a.m. for open
appointment slots for the
upcoming week.
Good Shepherd Health
Care System will offer
COVID-19 vaccinations each
Thursday. Sign ups for arrival
windows for the week will
open each Monday at 8 a.m.
Additional information will
be posted to the Good Shep-
herd Health Care System
and Umatilla County Health
websites when it is available.
Mirasol Family Health
Center will offer COVID-19
vaccination by appointment.
Existing patients may sched-
ule appointments by calling
541-567-1717. Individuals who
are not established patients
may email Mirasol@yvfwc.
org to be added to the appoint-
ment waitlist.
Safeway pharmacies in
Hermiston, Pendleton and
Milton-Freewater are now
offering limited COVID-19
vaccination by appointment
only through the Federal
Pharmacy Partnership. Those
currently eligible for vaccina-
tion can schedule an appoint-
ment at www.safeway.com/
COVID-19 when slots become
available.
Oregonians age 70 and
older become eligible on
Monday, Feb. 22. Those ages
65 and up become eligible
on Monday, March 1. Those
ages 75 and up, educators,
child care workers, health
care workers, fi rst responders,
incarcerated individuals, and
those living in congregate care
settings are already eligible.
The state has determined
that people with underlying
health conditions and frontline
workers essential to the func-
tioning of society will be in
line next after those over age
65, but has not yet announced
further details of a timeline
and what conditions or jobs
will qualify.
Umatilla County Public
Health has asked that people
refrain from calling its
offices about the availabil-
ity of vaccine appointments
and instead watch the depart-
ment’s website and Face-
book page, the Oregon Health
Authority vaccine website,
or call 211 for general infor-
mation about the vaccine and
eligibility.
new feelings of confusion,
being unable to wake up or
stay awake when not tired and
bluish lips or face, OHA said.
“We have all worked
together for nearly a year in
Oregon to protect the lives
of those we hold most dear,”
said Gov. Kate Brown. “The
loss of a life so young is an
indescribable tragedy for a
family. Dan and I send our
thoughts and condolences to
the mother and family of this
child, whose grief must be
unimaginable in this moment.
The hearts of all Oregonians
are with you today.”
Children with certain
underlying medical condi-
tions, as well as infants
younger than 1 year old,
could be at increased risk
for developing severe symp-
toms. Most children who
have experienced severe
illness from COVID-19
have had underlying medical
conditions, according to the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
According to the CDC as
of Wednesday, Feb. 17, 140
reported COVID-19 deaths
have come from children and
teenagers under the age of 14.
Only 1.3% of the state’s
confi rmed and presumptive
COVID-19 cases among chil-
dren 9 years old or younger
required hospitalization,
according to the CDC. The
state has reported just under
7,000 cases of the virus
among children.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Hermiston council
to discuss utility
rate increase
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston City Council will
discuss a utility rate increase
during their Monday, Feb. 22,
meeting.
A resolution adopted
by the city council in 2018
dictated that water and sewer
rates would go up according
to infl ation each year, start-
ing in March 2020, in an
attempt to create more grad-
ual increases over time.
According to the agenda
packet for the meeting, the
increase will be based on the
Engineering News-Record
Construction Cost Index as
of December of the preced-
ing calendar year. That index
rose by 2.15% from Decem-
ber 2019 to December 2020,
meaning water and sewer
rates in Hermiston are set to
rise by that much, adding an
average of $2.13 per month
to the median customer’s
combined water and sewer
bill.
The council meeting will
be broadcast live on the city’s
YouTube channel. Prior to the
7 p.m. council meeting, which
will take place at the Hermis-
ton Community Center, the
council will meet at 6 p.m. at
the Hermiston Public Library,
where it will take a tour of the
newly renovated basement of
the library, which will serve
as a temporary city hall while
the city’s planned new city
hall is under construction.
Weather halts
prisons COVID-19
vaccinations
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Vaccine efforts at Umatilla
County prisons were halted
this week as inclement
weather forced the state to
delay upcoming shipments,
according to spokespersons
from Two Rivers Correc-
tional Institution in Umatilla
and Eastern Oregon Correc-
tional Institution in Pendle-
ton.
The prisons each received
around 670 doses of the
COVID-19 vaccine last Tues-
day to immediately begin
offering the vaccine to all
adults in custody and were
expecting to receive more
doses this week before the
delay.
The prisons have yet to
receive confi rmation from
the state about when the next
shipment of doses might
come, the spokespersons
said.
Ron Miles, a supervising
executive assistant at EOCI,
said the prison is “hopeful
(doses) will arrive early next
week.”
Miles said the prison is
confi dent that it should be
able to offer all AICs at EOCI
a vaccine upon the upcoming
shipment. Roughly 72% of all
AICs offered one of the 670
doses in the fi rst clinic were
vaccinated, Miles said.
Linda Simon, a public
information offi cer at TRCI,
said the prison is expecting
400 doses in the next ship-
ment, but it’s unclear at this
time when those doses might
come.v
Simon added that the
prison will have to go through
a “couple more rounds” of
vaccine shipments before the
entire population at the prison
is offered their fi rst dose.
— EO Media Group
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