NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Oregon’s shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccine cut by 88%
By AIMEE GREEN
The Oregonian
SALEM — Problems in produc-
ing Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose
coronavirus vaccine will result in
an 88% reduction in the amount sent
to Oregon this week, similar to the
blow dealt to all 49 other states.
Oregon last week received a
record 61,400 doses, but this week
the federal government will ship
only 7,300 doses, according to
figures provided by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The outlook is even worse as April
proceeds, with Oregon’s top state
public health official expecting just
2,000 doses next week.
Oregon Health Authority Direc-
tor Patrick Allen told state legis-
lators the shortages of Johnson &
Johnson’s vaccine could exacer-
bate struggles in rural Oregon to
get all people 16 and older vacci-
nated. Allen said lagging inocula-
tion rates in some rural counties
is due to people who’ve decided
against vaccination. But others, he
said, are holding out until the John-
son & Johnson vaccine is available.
Medical experts say the vaccine
has proved to be the go-to option
among people who dislike needles
or want to make only one trip to a
vaccination clinic, because it only
requires one jab rather two like with
the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Some people who’ve received
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine
have posted giddy and celebratory
Tweets under the popular hashtag
#OneandDone.
Mary Altaffer/Associated Press, File
In this March 31, 2021, file photo, a nurse fills a syringe with a dose of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Problems in producing the one-dose coronavirus vaccine will result in an 88% reduction in the amount sent to
Oregon this week, similar to the blow dealt to all 49 other states.
Gov. Kate Brown received a
Johnson & Johnson dose in early
March.
The one-dose vaccine also has
been a valuable resource for states
eager to immunize hard-to-reach or
mobile populations, such as individ-
uals who are homeless, jail inmates,
migrant workers or college students.
Overall, the hit to Oregon’s
Johnson & Johnson allocation will
result in an overall 20% reduction
in total vaccines received — from
258,190 last week to 205,830 this
week — largely ecause shipments
of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines
are staying relatively consistent and
Johnson & Johnson allocations have
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Abundant
sunshine
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
Sunny and nice
Sunny and
delightful
60° 32°
62° 33°
64° 41°
67° 37°
69° 38°
75° 44°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
68° 37°
74° 39°
OREGON FORECAST
78° 43°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
61/37
53/31
61/38
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
59/34
Lewiston
66/36
65/43
Astoria
63/40
Pullman
Yakima 62/40
64/34
60/34
Portland
Hermiston
68/40
The Dalles 64/41
Salem
Corvallis
62/38
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
55/29
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
66/36
53/33
54/28
Ontario
65/38
Caldwell
Burns
62°
21°
64°
39°
89° (1936) 21° (2021)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
61/40
0.00"
Trace
0.29"
1.20"
0.48"
3.40"
WINDS (in mph)
62/35
54/27
0.00"
Trace
0.51"
3.34"
4.98"
4.47"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 50/22
66/38
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
60/32
65/37
58°
21°
61°
39°
85° (1934) 21° (2021)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
63/35
Aberdeen
53/35
60/38
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
64/42
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
68/36
Wed.
NE 10-20
NNE 7-14
NNE 8-16
NNE 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
55/29
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
46th annual Balloon Stampede to
take flight this year in Walla Walla
By CHLOE LEVALLEY
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
62° 36°
been comparatively small, accord-
ing to numbers from the state.
Those numbers, however, don’t
include doses sent to pharmacies
through the federal retail pharmacy
program. The number of doses sent
to the program weren’t yet avail-
able, as of Friday, April 9.
Allen said he predicts the John-
6:13 a.m.
7:39 p.m.
7:11 a.m.
9:30 p.m.
First
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Last
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Apr 19
Apr 26
May 3
May 11
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
— Hot air balloons are
expected to take flight this
fall for the 46th annual Walla
Walla Balloon Stampede.
The tradition was resched-
uled, and then canceled last
year due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
Laurie Spencer, producer
of the event from Lighter
than Air America, said Walla
Walla Balloon Stampede is
set for Oct. 13-17, and they
will be flying out of Howard
Tietan Park.
With many event cancel-
lations in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Spen-
cer is looking forward to
putting balloons in the sky.
Jerry Cummins, a local
pilot since 1987, said almost
all of the large hot air balloon
events had been canceled,
and events are starting to
be scheduled again. Walla
Walla’s will be one of the first
he has seen to come back.
“It’s going to be a return to
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
some type of normal. That’s
what I would hope that we
would see with these balloons
in the air for this year, a return
to yesteryear,” Cummins
said. “Let’s start going back
to tradition.”
He said he is looking
forward to seeing friends,
acquaintances, fellow pilots,
and balloons in the sky again.
Spencer said she expects
30 balloons this year, the
same as in previous years.
They will kick off Stam-
pede week with Kid’s Day on
Oct. 13, where, depending on
COVID-19 safety guidelines,
every kid who comes down to
the park will get a tether ride
in a balloon.
Scheduled for Oct. 15 is
Nite Glow, where they inflate
the balloons after dusk, and
then the burners light the
insides of the balloon up.
They will fly through Oct.
17, she said.
“We feel very comfortable
this year that with vaccines
available … that we’ll be in
really good shape to have
the event. Of course, we’ll
follow all of the local and
state guidelines that are put
out, in case there is a need to
do that,” Spencer said.
They are still working on
who will go up in the balloons
since they still have flight
obligations from last year
that they canceled and need
to fulfill.
“The availability at this
moment is an unknown,
closer to the event, then we
will have a better idea of
what commitments we have,”
Spencer said. “Due to the
generosity of our sponsors,
particularly Columbia REA,
who’s the presenting sponsor,
that’s how we can have this
community event.”
P1FCU sponsors Kids Day
and other sponsors include
Gordy’s Plastics, a longtime
sponsor, Port of Walla Walla
and the city of Walla Walla.
“We’re excited to be able
to come back and put balloons
in the sky and give some-
thing to people where they
can come out as a family and
enjoy and have smiles on their
faces,” she said.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL EXTREMES
High 98° in Cotulla, Texas Low 6° in Daniel, Wyo.
son & Johnson production problems
will amount to only a slight delay to
Oregon’s goal of inoculating 70% of
residents 16 and older by the end of
May with at least one dose of one of
the three available vaccines.
“That may shift a week or two
based on what we’re currently
beginning to see, but not by months
or months or anything like that,”
Allen said.
The number of Johnson & John-
son vaccines shipped to Oregon
and other states since the federal
government granted emergency
use authorization in February
has seesawed from week to week
because of production challenges
overseas, where all doses of the
vaccine are currently manufac-
tured.
Two weeks ago, the federal
government sent nearly 2 million
Johnson & Johnson doses to states.
Last week, it was nearly 5 million.
This week, it’s just 700,000.
Washington is seeing its alloca-
tion drop from 109,000 to 12,900.
California’s is going from 572,700
to 67,600.
Although Allen said the reduc-
tion might delay Oregon’s over-
all vaccination efforts by a week
or two, the timing of Johnson &
Johnson’s production difficulties is
unfortunate. New COVID-19 cases
are up 44% and hospitalizations
46% over the past two weeks, as
the state battles a fourth surge that
started weeks ago. Nationwide, new
known cases are up 13% and hospi-
talizations up 7% over the same
time period.
Conspiracy theories arise
surrounding FEMA trailers
meant for wildfire survivors
MEDFORD — A new staging area for
wildfire disaster trailers has rumors flying
and has attracted visitors armed with guns.
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency has about a hundred trailers set aside
for wildfire survivors from Jackson County.
It originally had those trailers staged at
the Jackson County Fairgrounds, known as
the Expo, as officials looked for potential
housing sites nearby. But they recently had
to relocate them three hours away to an old
mill in Gardiner, which is on the coast north
of Reedsport.
Since then, FEMA officials say they’ve
been fielding phone calls from locals
concerned about the sudden appearance of
the trailers.
“A lot of conspiracy theories that we were
developing this RV park for immigrants from
the southern border,” says FEMA spokes-
man Paul Corah. “The truth is we need those
mobile homes for fire survivors in Oregon.”
Some calls have come from local and
national media, including two people who
said they represented the American Free
Press, a far-right newspaper. Corah says they
showed up to the site carrying sidearms —
which alarmed some FEMA staffers — but
the incident ended without physical confron-
tation. The newspaper didn’t respond to
requests for comment.
Despite the rumors, Corah says all of these
trailers are intended for wildfire survivors and
the agency isn’t currently housing undocu-
mented immigrants in Oregon.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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