A10
LOCAL/STATE
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Oregon needs massive
infusion of vaccine to
meet Biden’s goal
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
A couple keeps cool in the water at Wallowa Lake State Park as watercraft, from paddleboards to jetboats, clog the lake with
boaters in September 2020. Most camping rates at the park will not change as the 2021 season opens.
Electric hookup fees to rise at state parks
Regular camping
fees stay unchanged
Chieftain staff
SALEM — Wallowa
Lake State Park is one of
21 state parks that will see
their electric hookup rates
increase as they open this
spring as campgrounds pre-
pare for the 2021 season,
while regular camping rates
remain stable, according to
a press release.
“Our visitors and staff
have weathered a rough 12
months,” said Lisa Sump-
tion, director of the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Department. “None of us
imagined this time last year
that we would face a more
than two-month shutdown
of Oregon State Parks and
then reopen under pandemic
and safety precautions, fol-
lowed by last September’s
wildfi res that damaged our
local communities and sev-
eral state parks. This Febru-
ary’s ice storm also brought
down trees and limbs and
damaged some facilities in
northern Willamette Valley
and Columbia River Gorge
parks.”
Sumption said the OPRD
has fewer employees and a
revenue shortfall that led to
fewer hires, including sea-
sonal staff .
Oregon Lottery reve-
nue and park visitor fees are
projected to be down more
than $20 million by the end
of the 2019-21 biennium
that ends June 30.
Overnight camping rates
will remain the same as
2020 rates except for a $3
increase for electric hookup
and full hookup sites in
selected parks May 28 to
Sept. 6. The electric hookup
rate range will be $24-$35
and the full hookup range
will be $26-$38 per night
at 20 other parks. In addi-
tion to Wallowa Lake State
Park, those include Bev-
erly Beach State Park, Bull-
ards Beach State Park, Cape
Blanco State Park, Cape
Lookout State Park, Dev-
il’s Lake State Recreation
Area, Fort Stevens State
Park, Harris Beach State
Park, Jessie M. Honey-
man Memorial State Park,
Nehalem Bay State Park,
South Beach State Park,
Sunset Bay State Park,
William M. Tugman State
Park, The Cove Palisades
State Park, LaPine State
Park, Tumalo State Park,
Valley of the Rogue State
Park, Champoeg State Her-
itage Area, Detroit Lake
State Recreation Area, L.L.
Stub Stewart Memorial
State Park and Silver Falls
ING WALLOWA COUN
T
R
TY
PPO
R
I
C
G
’S
U
A
L
U
L
T
U
A
S
R
C
E
O
L
We would like to take this opportunity
to thank our farmers, ranchers & producers
for all they do to make our area a better place to live.
State Park.
A temporary, COVID-re-
lated surcharge that added
up to an additional 30% fee
to overnight stays for out-of-
state campers ended March
1. All campers in 2021 will
pay the same rates. The
OPRD plans to open a pub-
lic discussion about making
out-of-state rates a normal
part of the overnight stay
rate structure.
Some pandemic-related,
temporary changes remain
in place based on statewide
restrictions to group gath-
erings, including keeping
group facilities and hiker/
biker camping areas closed.
In addition, visitor stays in
yurts and cabins are fol-
lowed by a one-day rest-
ing period. The resting day
reduces overall availabil-
ity, but staff uses the time
to thoroughly clean the
facilities to ensure visitor
safety. Yurt and cabin vis-
its in coastal campgrounds
require a two-night mini-
mum stay.
The OPRD budget is
44% Lottery Fund dedi-
cated by Oregon voters in
1999 and 2010; 50% “Other
Fund” from park visitors,
a portion of recreational
vehicle registrations and
other sources; and 6% fed-
eral fund, mainly for heri-
tage-related programs.
For more information
about Oregon State Parks
and campgrounds, visit
stateparks.oregon.gov.
The most valuable and
respected source of
local news, advertising
and information for
our communities.
eomediagroup.com
CARPETING
WALLOWA
COUNTY
SALEM — Oregon
would need up to double the
doses of COVID-19 vac-
cine it currently receives to
fulfi ll President Joe Biden’s
seven-week sprint to allow
all adults to be off ered inoc-
ulation, Oregon health offi -
cials said Friday, March 12.
Gov. Kate Brown and
top state medical experts
held a press call Friday to
say they hoped to meet
Biden’s timeline, but would
move cautiously.
Brown said she wel-
comed Biden’s “audacious
announcement.”
“I will do everything
I can to make it happen,”
Brown said.
Oregon’s current stag-
gered
priority
groups
wouldn’t match Biden’s
deadline until July 1.
States have the central
authority over public health
and Brown said the pres-
ent plan would stay in place
until there was a guaranteed
supply before she would
unleash additional demand
onto the already strained
system.
Oregon offi cials were
only recently told they
would receive 200,000
doses per month, up from
the previous 120,000 doses.
Asked how much more
vaccine Oregon would need
to meet Biden’s schedule,
Allen said it would “require
a doubling of those doses.”
“It would need to be an
increase on that kind of
order of magnitude,” Allen
said. “Maybe 300,000.”
Part of the math problem
has to do with the vaccines
themselves. Until recently,
Oregon was only receiv-
ing the Pfi zer and Moderna
vaccines, each of which
requires two shots given
about a month apart.
The state has received
the initial shipments of a
new vaccine from Johnson
& Johnson that requires a
single shot.
Brown and Allen both
said their caution came
from not wanting to set off
the kind of policy whip-
lash that hit Oregonians in
mid-January.
When the Trump admin-
istration announced the
immediate release of a
large stockpile of additional
doses, Brown dropped her
carefully crafted priority
tier policy. She announced
everyone in Oregon age 65
and over would be eligible
for shots.
Trump offi cials said
within 48 hours that there
was no stockpile of new
doses.
“This is a deception on a
national scale,” Brown said
at the time.
The governor had to
reverse herself and put eli-
gibility restrictions back in
place.
Biden said Thursday that
he wanted the nation far
enough along in its vacci-
nation program to allow for
small celebrations of July
4.
“If we all do our part,
this country will be vacci-
nated soon, our economy
will be on the mend, our
kids will be back in school
and we’ll have proven once
again that this country can
do anything,” Biden said.
Though Oregon offi cials
have a much-higher level
of confi dence in Biden’s
streamlined transport sys-
tem and increased manu-
facturing of vaccine, Allen
said supply needed to be on
the way fi rst.
“We know the previous
administration made previ-
ous announcements it was
unable to fi ll,” Allen said.
Oregon is currently lim-
iting shots to health work-
ers, residents of nursing
homes, educators and day-
care workers, and most
recently, all residents age
65 and older as of March 1.
The next eligible group
can seek shots March 29.
It’s a long list that includes
adults age 45 and older with
specifi c medical issues,
agricultural and other food
processing workers, home-
less people, residents of
low-income housing, those
displaced by last year’s
wildfi res and wildland
fi refi ghters.
Pregnant women age
16 and over were recently
added to the group.
OHA has not been able
to give estimates on how
many people will become
eligible on March 29.
May 1 — the date that
Biden wants eligibility
to be off ered to all adults
nationwide — is currently
listed as adding frontline
workers (those who deal
daily with the public), those
living in multigenerational
households and those age
16-44 with certain medical
conditions.
Brown’s plan calls for
everyone age 45 and older
to be eligible June 1. On
July 1, all adults would be
able to seek shots.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger,
the state’s top infectious
disease expert, said offi -
cials were looking at stud-
ies from around the country
about school reopenings.
Some indicate Oregon’s
mandate for students to be
spaced six feet apart when
they return to the class-
room could be cut to three
feet. No policy change is
currently in the pipeline,
despite requests to Brown
from school districts.
Allen said the vacci-
nation eff ort involving
seniors was going well
statewide, though he noted
some counties — such as
Deschutes — were ahead
of the goal to have 75% of
eligible seniors inoculated,
while other counties lagged
behind.
Brown praised the sup-
port of Oregon’s con-
gressional delegation for
Biden’s $1.9 trillion stim-
ulus legislation, which
includes $1,400 direct pay-
ments to Americans, aid for
COVID-19
distribution,
unemployment aid and
funds to buttress state and
local budgets strained by
the pandemic.
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-On-
tario joined all House
Republicans in opposing
the bill, saying it was too
expensive and included too
much nonpandemic-related
spending. The rest of Ore-
gon’s congressional dele-
gation — all Democrats —
supported the bill.
Conatact Elaine at 541-263-1189
Barn homes?
Supporting Wallowa County
Agriculture
Ag Day March 23rd
CARPET • LUXURY VINYL • TILE • HARDWOOD • FURNITURE • AND MORE
WC Humane Society is in
desperate need of BARN
HOMES for healthy, fixed,
adult cats. We have a very
limited number of foster
homes. YOU CAN HELP! Call
WC Humane Society to have ferals
spayed and neutered young to prevent
spraying. Adopt an adult cat for your
Barn and/or BECOME a volunteer
FOSTER!
Call WC Humane Society
800 S. River Enterprise, OR • 541-426-9228 • www.carpetone.com
at 541-263-0336 for more information
http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/
Brought to you by,