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East Oregonian
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Shots:
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Locals on both days
packed the parking lot
at Pendleton Convention
Center for a drive-thru
clinic. Several people who
received boosters at the
Oct. 29 clinic there said
they sought out the extra
protection because they
know people personally
who have been severely
infected or have died
from COVID-19. Fiumara
confirmed that was a
trend among patients who
wanted boosters.
“It’s unfortunate that
that seems to be the biggest
driver,” he said. “Because
we don’t want them all to
have that story.”
Death toll rises
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Maj. DeWayne Halstad of the Salvation Army in Pendleton receives his flu shot Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, during a vaccination clinic at the Salvation Army.
Supplies:
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For Gregg Carter, the hospital
outreach program and other services
at the Salvation Army, the hospi-
tal’s program have been a welcome
resource throughout the warmer
months. Carter, who has lived on
the streets of Pendleton for the last
five years, received his COVID-
19 vaccine from the St. Anthony
outreach program, has eaten lunch
at the Salvation Army regularly and
even had a tooth pulled by another
outreach program earlier in the year.
“It’s been nice and handy,” he said.
Carter picked up a sleeping bag at
the Nov. 3 event and looked over the
selection of winter clothes to see if he
needed anything else.
“I’ve got pretty good gear,” he
said.
While Carter said he feels ready
for the winter, he picked up the extra
sleeping bag to help line his and
break the cold on “sub-zero nights.”
In the event weather gets too extreme,
Carter said he has lined up a few
people to spend the night with if the
cold gets to him.
“I’m on the (Umatilla River) —
I’ve got a tree — and when I wake up
in the morning my sleeping bag and
backpack come with me,” he said. “I
go to sleep when I get there and I get
up and go when I wake up.”
Carter said he mostly likes to
keep to himself and be outdoors
but he comes to pick up lunch at the
Salvation Army most days. He said
he had often thought about living
on the streets after his time in the
armed forces and a career as a wood-
worker and caregiver, but when the
Great Recession hit in the late 2000s
Carter’s thoughts became reality.
“It’s where I wanted to be,” he said
Maj. DeWayne Halstad, of the
Salvation Army, said having St.
Anthony and other resources at the
Pendleton Corps have been conve-
nient for those coming to the daily
lunch program.
“People like it, and it’s conve-
nient,” he said. “They know that they
bring supplies.”
While Wednesday was the final
outreach day for the St. Anthony
program, the Salvation Army will
continue to offer meals Monday
through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to
1:30 p.m. and Sundays 2-3 p.m. Meals
are to-go, however picnic tables are
available on site to dine outdoors.
Strain:
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Fiumara said providers’
capacity struggles can’t be
entirely attributed to Bi-Mart
dropping its pharmacies. He
said Pendleton Family Medi-
cine suspended vaccinations
after dealing with staffing
shortages while the Rite-Aid
in Hermiston has struggled
with the demand for phar-
macy services in general.
But even if the effects
of the Bi-Mart pharmacy
closures are temporary,
Pendleton and Hermiston
will have to endure the rest
of the pandemic with one less
vaccination site. In Pendle-
ton, Bi-Mart’s narrowing its
scope of services means there
are only three commercial
pharmacies left in the area.
St. Anthony Hospital’s phar-
macy only serves inpatients
while Yellowhawk Tribal
Health Center only provides
medication to Yellow-
hawk-eligible patients, which
are restricted to people with
American Indian blood or
Native descent.
In a county where less
than half of residents are
fully vaccinated against
COVID-19, the public health
department has largely ceded
vaccination duties to phar-
macies and other medical
providers after organizing
mass vaccination drives early
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
The Pendleton Bi-Mart pharmacy will close its doors Monday, Nov. 10, 2021.
in the year. Umatilla County
Public Health briefly revived
the format late last week to
distribute booster shots, but
Fiumara said the goal was
to provide some relief to
medical providers preparing
to deal with newly eligible
vaccine recipients.
On Tuesday, Nov. 2, the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention recom-
mended expanding the
Pfizer vaccine’s eligibility to
5 to 11-year-olds. The Oregon
Health Authority announced
that the state could follow
with its own orders as soon
as Wednesday, Nov. 3. In
Umatilla County, Fiumara
said he expects most school-
aged children to get their
vaccines in a pediatric setting
after parents discuss their
options with a doctor.
Fiumara doesn’t antici-
pate vaccinating children in
a drive thru clinic like the
county has several times
before for adults.
“It would be slow and
messy,” he said.
Even with the vaccine
drives mostly over, Umatilla
County Public Health has
been vaccinating students
at Pendleton High School
and Sunridge Middle School
through its school-based
health center program. At
a presentation to the Pend-
leton School Board, Alisha
Lundgren, public health’s
deputy director, presented
modest COVID-19 vaccina-
tion numbers so far — 21 at
Sunridge and 15 at the high
school.
Despite the vaccine eligi-
bility expansion, Fiumara
said Umatilla County Public
Health is incapable of offer-
ing vaccines to elemen-
tary school students on a
daily basis due to funding.
Instead, the department is
reaching out to schools to
set up by-appointment clin-
ics at certain dates and times
in the future. Fiumara didn’t
think there will be the same
level of pent-up demand there
was when the vaccine first
debuted for adults.
“I think it’s going to be
more of a slow burn,” he said.
Not eve r y me d ical
provider is capable of
providing vaccines to chil-
dren either. Only the Pfizer
vaccine has been approved
for children younger than
18, and Emily Smith,
a spokesperson for St.
Anthony, wrote in an email
that the hospital only carries
Moderna and Johnson &
Johnson vaccines.
The Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation is taking a differ-
ent tack. Aaron Hines, the
interim CEO of Yellowhawk,
said the clinic tentatively
plans to hold a vaccination
drive Nov. 13 specifically for
5- to 12-year-olds. Hines said
Yellowhawk wanted to do the
drive to get ahead of the holi-
day season, when families
from different households
tend to gather.
Hines said the initial plan
is to only offer the COVID-
19 vaccine to tribal members,
but if supply exceeds demand,
Yellowhawk may open eligi-
bility to other groups.
The county health
depa r t ment on Nov.
2 repor ted t wo new
COVID-19 deaths. That
brings the county’s death
toll to 155 since the
pandemic started. One of
the victims, who fought
COVID-19 for two-and-
a-half months, was just 29
years old, health officials
reported.
The county’s 154th
victim is a 29-year-old
man who tested positive
on Aug. 3 and died Oct. 21
at Good Shepherd Medi-
cal Center, Hermiston. He
had unspecified underly-
ing health conditions.
The county’s 155th
victim is a 79-year-old
man who tested positive
Oct. 29 and died Oct. 29
at Good Shepherd. He had
unspecified underlying
health conditions.
Nearly 30 Umatilla
County residents who
contracted COVID-19
have died since the begin-
ning of September.
Positive signs among
cases, vaccinations
Fiumara said the high
rate of immunization
rates coupled with falling
infection rates has him
feeling cautiously opti-
mistic. For more than a
month, case counts have
declined on-average. As
of Tuesday, Nov. 2, the
county was reporting just
24 cases per day. That’s
the lowest daily total since
mid-July, and marks the
fifth consecutive week of
declines.
Last week, the county
reported 182 COVID-19
cases. During the week
ending Oct. 1, the county
reported 510 cases.
Fiumara said the low
totals would have placed
the county close to the
high risk categories in
recent months.
“We’re in a good place
compared to where we’ve
been,” Fiumara said.
And with vaccine eligi-
bility likely coming soon
for youths over the age of
5, Fiumara said his opti-
mism is only growing, but
residents should continue
to protect themselves
against.
He said, “We’re not out
of this yet.”
The count y has
reported 14,727 confirmed
and presumptive cases
si nce t he pa ndem ic
started.
2nd Place Winner:
Sams:
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But Sams’ confirma-
tion also received posi-
tive statements from Sen.
John Barrasso, a Wyoming
Republican and the rank-
ing member of the commit-
tee, and Sen. Steve Daines,
Republican from Montana.
“I too share support for
Mr. Sams for the national
parks leader,” Daines said.
“We passed the Great Amer-
ican Outdoors Act. We have
a wonderful opportunity now
to move forward with imple-
mentation of addressing that
maintenance backlog.”
After the committee vote,
Wyden sent out a statement
reiterating his support for
Sams while urging the Senate
to “move quickly and deci-
sively” to confirm him.
Democrats have the barest
of majorities in the Senate
— a 50-member caucus
plus Vice President Kamala
Harris. Presidential appoin-
tees aren’t subject to the fili-
buster during confirmation
votes, but Democrats would
need all their members to
stick together if Republicans
widely opposed Sams.
But that doesn’t appear
to be the case. Sams earned
affirmative votes from the
seven Republicans pres-
ent at the meeting. The vote
followed a hearing in Octo-
ber, where Sams addressed
senator questions about
his lack of experience in
national parks, his views on
the service’s staffing short-
age and what he would do to
address infrastructure issues
at certain parks and sites.
Back home in Mission, the
CTUIR put out a statement
after the committee vote,
noting the historic nature
of Sams becoming the first
American Indian to lead
the National Park Service
and suggesting the pending
confirmation was the culmi-
nation of a lifetime of work.
“Tribal elders have been
preparing Chuck for this
type of work his entire life,”
CTUIR Board of Trustees
Chair Kat Brigham said in
a statement. “From a young
age, he learned he has a
responsibility to take care
of the land for our children’s
children.”
According to the High
Country News, tribal leaders
from across Indian Country
aren’t just looking at Sams as
a symbolic victory but also
as an opportunity to improve
relations between the park
service and tribal govern-
ments. Several national parks
were created by encroach-
ing on indigenous land and
removing its inhabitants, and
tribal leaders hope Sams will
work with them to establish
co-management agreements
that give tribes greater say
in the park service’s decision
making process.
Austin Carlson, Pendleton
BRAGGIN'
RIGHTS
HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST
1st Place Winner:
John and William Smith, Echo
3rd Place Winner:
Chris Draper, Baker City
Thank you to everyone who submitted photos of their
big capture and congratulations to our winners —
You’ve certainly earned Braggin’ Rights!