THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
LOCAL & STATE
Oregon to expand vaccine eligibility
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Over 1 million more
people will be eligible for the
COVID-19 vaccines in the
next two upcoming eligibility
phases, state offi cials said
Tuesday.
The groups to be added
on March 29 and May 1 will
nearly double the number of
people eligible for vaccination.
Like most states, Oregon is
already struggling with the
gap between vaccine eligibil-
ity and availability.
To date, there has only
been enough vaccine avail-
able to inoculate less than
half of the approximately
1.36 million Oregonians
already eligible. There are an
estimated 2.8 million adults
in Oregon out of a population
of just under 4.3 million.
The numbers for the next
eligibility groups have not
been announced, but were
provided by OHA in response
to a query by EO Media
the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and members of multi-
generational households.
The fi nal two groups are
everyone else 45 and older on
June 1 and everyone 16 and
older on July 1.
President Joe Biden has
set May 1 as the date when
states should open eligibil-
ity to all those 16 and older.
But Gov. Kate Brown said
the state would stick with its
current priority system until
there is a fi rm commitment
Ryan Brennecke/The (Bend) Bulletin from federal health authori-
More than one million Oregonians will become eligible
ties of a major increase in vac-
for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1.
cine being sent to the state.
Oregon health offi cials
Group. The last change to the put them at higher risk of
felt burned in January when
eligibility list was March 1,
severe illness or death, preg- they announced eligibility for
when everyone age 65 and
nant women 16 and older and everyone over 65 based on
older was approved to get
homeless people.
what turned out to be an er-
vaccinated.
On May 1, an estimated
roneous statement by federal
On March 29, eligibility
550,000 more people will be
health offi cials in the Trump
will be extended to an esti-
eligible. The minimum age for administration. Brown had to
mated 530,000 more people, those with medical conditions reverse the order and restore
according to OHA. The group will be extended to those 16
a tiered priority system.
includes those 45 and older
and older. It also includes es-
Since the arrival of the
with medical conditions that sential workers as defi ned by fi rst vaccines from Pfi zer and
POLITICS
‘A robust debate’
Resolutions have been intro-
duced in the Legislature to move
to a commission like those al-
ready used in California and sev-
eral other states. Several speakers
endorsed such a plan. But even
New districts should make
if approved by the House and
“Greater Idaho” state did not include How they were ignored depended on sense geographically
Senate, the change to the state
Wallowa County, though he wasn’t
each testimonial.
New districts should “geographi- constitution would need voter ap-
sure why. With the mystery aside, the
In a written statement, Uma-
cally make sense” to retain an
proval. Any change wouldn’t occur
discussion could return to Oregon.
tilla County Commissioner George
Eastern Oregon voice in Washington until the 2031 redistricting.
For over an hour, the committee
Murdock struck a note between
At the end of the evening, Sa-
heard three main themes: The dis-
hope and resignation over the likely and Salem.
“If Oregon gets a new seat, we are linas, chair of the House commit-
trict was much too large, it included outcome of the process.
not naive enough to expect more
tee, said the gathering of so many
different communities with different
“My greatest concern is that our
representation for Eastern Oregon, people from so many places had
identities and, in the case of Mal-
district could be gerrymandered
but we would like to retain what we been time well spent.
heur County, a completely different in order to further diminish repre-
have,” Murdock said.
“A robust debate,” she said.
time zone.
sentation for a portion of Oregon
Nathan Soltz, chairman of the
The video ended. The committee
Finally, the desires of people in the that refl ects ideology, values, and
Democratic Party of Oregon’s 2nd
will hold a second hearing on Satur-
district were too often ignored in the interests much different than the
day, March 20, at 1 p.m.
capitals of Washington and Salem.
remainder of Oregon,” Murdock said. Congressional District Commit-
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“
“
about 24,000 shots per day,
putting it in the middle of
states nationwide.
Because of Brown’s deci-
sion to prioritize educators
over seniors in January, the
state is below the national
average for seniors who have
been inoculated. Though vac-
cine is provided through the
federal government and the
Centers for Disease Control
has a suggested prioritization
list, states ultimately have
authority to decide who gets
inoculated at what point.
Oregon has been one of the
safest places in the country
during the pandemic. The
state has the fourth low-
est number of COVID-19
cases per capita among all
states, according to an ongo-
ing count by the New York
Times.
Only Hawaii, Vermont and
Maine have performed better
since the fi rst COVID-19 case
was reported in Washington
on Jan. 21, 2020.
tee, said the sparse population and
vast landscape made it diffi cult for
communities to feel any mutual
connection.
”You can drive from Medford to
Enterprise — about 10 hours — and
never leave CD2,” he said.
Brad Bennington of Jackson
County said lawmakers needed to
listen more to rural voters.
“There is more to the state than
just Portland and Salem,” he said.
“There are a lot of people who feel
they haven’t been heard.”
Bennington said he would give
the legislators the “benefi t of the
doubt” in drawing political maps.
“Democrats can keep themselves
in the supermajority until the day
the sun doesn’t come up,” he said.
Todd Nash of Enter-
prise said it would be
diffi cult to draw politi-
cal maps with so little
population to pool into
a district.
Nash
“We have about 320
acres per person,” he
said.
Craig Martell, of Baker City, said
proximity and highway connections
should guide the grouping of com-
munities in districts.
“Baker City and La Grande, only
44 miles apart on Interstate 84, be-
long in the same district,” he wrote.
“As lines are currently drawn,
Senate District 30 is a grotesque
gerrymandered monstrosity.”
Continued from Page 3A
While the court sifts through the
paperwork, the Legislature is plan-
ning/hoping/praying the Oregon Su-
preme Court will pick its solution. A
way to move things along in advance
would be to hold the 10 required
hearings — two in each of the current
fi ve congressional districts.
Which brings things back to
COVID-19. The usual “road trip” of
lawmakers to districts to hear from
voters aren’t happening this year be-
cause of COVID-19. All 10 redistrict-
ing hearings will be virtual.
Congressional District 2 covers a
lot of territory
The Wednesday, March 10, hear-
ing was Congressional District 2, a
nearly 70,000-square-mile expanse
that share borders with California,
Nevada, Idaho and Washington. Any-
one living east of the Cascades, plus
a chunk of the southwest part of the
state, lives in the 2nd District.
All four of the other congressional
districts are represented by Demo-
crats. The 2nd is solidly Republican,
with freshman U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz,
R-Ontario, in the seat.
The hearing would require some-
thing of a technical miracle. Video
testimony expected from Wallowa
County, Bend, Medford, Klamath
Falls, and several other spots in the
district taxed the Legislature’s inter-
net capabilities. Balky phone lines,
echoing microphones, stuck mute
buttons and more led to frequent
silent spots. Many of the people who
signed up to testify either couldn’t get
through or gave up prior to their turn
in the queue.
Two who signed up discovered
they lived in other congressional
districts.
One caller wanted to know why
Wallowa County had been left off a
map of Greater Idaho.
Some of the panel members
squinted “what?”
Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-Dallas,
fi nally piped up to explain the caller’s
query was about a theoretical seces-
sion of much of Eastern Oregon to
form “Greater Idaho” with the neigh-
boring state to the east.
Bonham even helpfully added that
maps circulating for the mythical
Moderna in December, about
1.36 million people in Oregon
are in the nine priority groups
already eligible.
But the state reports total
shots to date at 1,346,090. The
vast majority of the shots are
the Pfi zer and Moderna vac-
cines, which require two shots
spaced about a month apart.
That translates into just
under 674,000 two-shot
inoculations, enough for less
than half of those eligible. The
gap between eligibility and
availability has resulted in
widespread frustration over
trying to book appointments
with county health authori-
ties, pharmacies or other
medical providers.
Recently, the Johnson &
Johnson vaccine that requires
just one shot has arrived in
Oregon.
Through March 15, a total
of 1,642,505 doses of vac-
cines have been delivered to
Oregon.
Oregon has averaged
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