SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
LOCAL
Protesters decry vaccine mandate
WOLVES
Continued from A1
After ODFW biologists confirmed that Look-
out Mountain wolves had attacked cattle five
times during July, killing three and injuring three
others, agency employees killed two pups, born
during the spring of 2021, on Aug. 1.
Following additional attacks in August and
September that killed five head of cattle, ODFW
employees shot and killed three more wolves,
including the pack’s breeding male, on Sept. 17.
There were no attacks on cattle for almost a
month, until Oct. 16, when biologists determined
that wolves had killed a 400-pound calf, likely on
Oct. 14.
ODFW employees then shot and killed three
more wolves, two juveniles born this year and one
wolf born in 2020, on Oct. 20.
ODFW officials believe the Lookout Mountain
pack, which roams in the area between Highway
86 on the north and Interstate 84 to the south,
now consists of up to three wolves — the breeding
female and two juveniles born this spring that
are about six months old.
The breeding female has a GPS tracking collar
that allows biologists to monitor her movements.
Brown wrote that one possibility is that the
breeding female will remain in the area.
“When there is a loss of a breeder, the remain-
ing wolf will often stay in the familiar territory,
while waiting for a new mate to disperse into the
area,” Brown wrote.
It’s also possible that the breeding female will
leave the area to search for a new mate.
But Brown said she doesn’t think that will
happen so long as the two juvenile wolves are
still traveling with their mother.
Because the breeding female would not mate
with one of her offspring — ODFW doesn’t know
the gender of the two remaining juveniles — the
only circumstance in which the breeding female
would have a new mate is if a dispersing male
wolf moves into the Lookout Mountain area,
Brown wrote.
“Dispersing wolves commonly travel through-
out the Lookout Mountain unit,” she wrote.
Brown wrote that there are no nearby wolf
packs that are likely to “take over” the territory of
the Lookout Mountain pack.
The juvenile wolves are old enough to travel
full time with the breeding female, but they “are
unlikely to contribute any when killing larger
prey due to their lack of experience,” Brown
wrote.
The juvenile wolves can kill smaller prey on
their own, she wrote.
ODFW officials have said previously that they
decided to kill wolves from the pack because the
evidence showed that the wolves were targeting
cattle despite healthy populations of elk and deer,
the usual main food source for wolf packs, in the
Lookout Mountain area.
Officials also said ranchers in the area had
frequently patrolled the area, tried to haze the
wolves, and ensured there were no bone piles or
other attractants.
The agency initially focused on juveniles and
yearlings rather than the pack’s breeding pair.
But ODFW officials decided to kill the breeding
male on Sept. 17 when depredations continued.
Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash, who has
talked with ranchers who have lost cattle to the
wolves and been present at some ODFW inves-
tigations at attack scenes, wrote a letter on Sept.
12 to ODFW Director Curt Melcher asking for
the state to eliminate the entire Lookout Moun-
tain pack.
Ash said on Friday, Oct. 22 that although he
hopes the killing of the three wolves on Oct. 20
will change the pack’s behavior and end attacks
on cattle, he’s not confident that will happen.
He said ranchers are frustrated and want
to be able to run their cattle on private land —
where several of the attacks have happened —
without having to deal with losses from wolves.
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — As the sun
crested the hills over CHI St.
Anthony hospital in Pendleton
on Tuesday, Oct. 19, a group of
health care workers who had
just finished their final 12-hour
shift stood in the cold.
The workers were not vac-
cinated against COVID-19, and
the hospital placed them on
90 days of unpaid leave after
the state’s mandate went into
effect the day before. A hospital
spokesperson said in an email
that the hospital placed 15
employees — or 4% of its more
than 370 employees — on leave.
The group joined more
than 50 protesters outside
the hospital, where a record
number of COVID-19 patients
were admitted during a delta
variant crisis that has infected,
hospitalized and killed more
county residents than any other
pandemic surge since March
2020, according to data from the
Oregon Health Authority and
Umatilla County Public Health.
First they protested near the
parking lot. Then they protested
at the nearby intersection.
For more than an hour, they
cheered and held signs decrying
the mandate while dozens of
vehicles, including ambulances,
honked as they passed.
Among them was Michelle
Burcham, a hospital chaplain
who said her request for a
religious exemption was denied.
Burcham joined the hospital
in 2017. She said she loved her
job and enjoyed supporting her
community. But when she heard
on Oct. 16 that her request had
been denied, she felt that it was
a sign.
“From the beginning, I didn’t
make it about the vaccine,” she
said. “I made it about God’s
directing me to another place.”
Emily Smith, a St. An-
thony spokesperson, said in
an email that employees who
were denied exemptions could
request their case be reevalu-
ated and added “most who chose
to resubmit were subsequently
approved.”
But at this point, Burcham
said she’s uninterested in
pursuing that route. She said
she doesn’t want to lose the
connection she’s had with her
community through her job,
adding she would consider help-
ing out part-time if given the
opportunity.
“I don’t know how a Catholic,
religious institution decides if
your religious exemption is valid
or not,” she said. “And I do think
it’s disrespectful of them to say
that other workers don’t care
about their community if they’re
not vaccinated.”
Smith said the hospital could
not comment on the specific
case of any employee but ex-
plained exemption requests are
processed by the national office
for CommonSpirit Health, a
part of Catholic Health Initia-
tives, the national Catholic
health care system that owns
St. Anthony.
In a statement in response
to the protest, Smith said the
hospital had “no choice but to
comply” with the Gov. Kate
Brown’s and President Joe
Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine
mandates.
The statement said the vac-
cine is the “most effective tool we
have to manage” coronavirus.
“In our efforts to improve
health and advance social
justice, especially for those who
are most vulnerable, we seek
to diminish the risk of bringing
an infectious disease into the
workplace, exposing our families
to it, or spreading it in our
community,” according to the
statement. “St. Anthony is com-
mitted to optimizing safety for
its patients, staff, and visitors.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
About 50 protesters involved in a demonstration against
vaccines and vaccination mandates on Tuesday morning,
Oct. 19, 2021, walk along a sidewalk near St. Anthony
Hospital in Pendleton.
Control and Prevention also
states COVID-19 vaccines are
safe and highly effective at pre-
venting severe cases, hospital-
ization and death.
ing weekly COVID-19 tests
among unvaccinated employees
“discriminatory.”
Andrina Thornton, a fifth-
year nurse on the hospital’s
medical floor, said she came to
the protest in solidarity with
Protesters decry mandate
Protesters nationwide have the nurses who lost their jobs.
voiced opposition to what they She pointed out that many
community members had their
describe as government over-
children delivered by the labor
reach amid state and federal
vaccine mandates. Outside St. and delivery employees placed
on leave.
Anthony, a group held signs
“It’s really sad that we are
calling for medical freedom and
losing nurses who are born and
bodily autonomy. Teenagers to
older adults took photos, smiled, raised here, invested in our com-
laughed and waved. Several
munity,” she said. “These are
health care workers and attend- home-grown nurses.”
Thornton said she received
ees said they felt like they were
a vaccine exemption but said
standing for a good cause.
“We have rights as citizens, she’ll be getting vaccinated to
living in a free country,” said Ju- continue her work in the Army
lie Malcom, a 29-year employee National Guard. She said she
wants the community to know
at St. Anthony who worked in
about how hard this will be on
the labor and delivery unit.
Malcolm, a born-and-raised the small hospital.
“People need to think about
Pendleton resident, said her
unit has roughly a dozen work- the consequences as a whole,”
ers. She and Dawn Jeffers, who she said. “All of us nurses here
know that COVID is real. All of
also worked in the labor and
delivery unit, said they are con- us nurses here know that we’re
cerned about how the unit will losing people of COVID, and it’s
unfortunate. But we’ve been in
operate with about a quarter
the trenches for 18 months, un-
fewer workers.
“It feels like we’re a number, vaccinated, and now that choice
not a person,” said Jeffers, who is being taken away from us,
said she worked at St. Anthony and there’s a lot of nurses that
for more than eight years. She
strongly feel that their health is
called hospital policies requir-
their choice.”
County discusses options for east county ambulance service
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker County Commis-
sioners on Wednesday, Oct. 20
authorized Jason Yencopal, the
county’s emergency manager,
and his staff to continue efforts
to deal with a staffing shortage
in the Halfway/Oxbow ambu-
lance service in eastern Baker
County.
The district notified county
officials in a letter dated Oct. 12
that it can’t meet its minimum
response time due to Oregon’s
COVID-19 vaccination man-
date, which took effect Oct. 18.
Yencopal told commissioners
that volunteers, who already
have day jobs, operate the Half-
way/Oxbow ambulance service.
In response to Commis-
sion Chairman Bill Harvey’s
question, Yencopal confirmed
BACKPACK
that the service will continue,
but that it might not be able
to respond to calls within 45
minutes in 90% of incidents.
“They don’t want to vacate
the area, they don’t want to not
continue any service, it will just
take them longer,” Yencopal
said. “What they did tell me
was, ‘we have about three that
have been responding to most of
those calls — a driver, an EMR
(emergency medical responder),
and an EMT (emergency medi-
cal technician) intermediate.’ ”
Commissioners authorized
Yencopal to discuss with other
rural departments in the coun-
ty the possibility of having their
volunteers drive the ambulance
for Halfway/Oxbow.
Yencopal said the plan is
to start a training and recruit-
ment process.
“We thought we would
start out with the EMRs —
emergency medical respond-
ers — in each locale, Hunting-
ton, Halfway and then Burnt
River to augment that and
that we would, by the books,
we would pay the instructor,”
Commissioner Mark Bennett
said.
The letter from the Half-
way/Oxbow ambulance service
didn’t say how many of its
volunteers are not available
due to the vaccine mandate.
Volunteers who choose not
to be vaccinated can request a
medical or religious exception.
In addition to the Halfway/
Oxbow ambulance service,
Yencopal said he has been
seeking to ensure coverage in
the Huntington area, which
does not have its own ambu-
lance. Now, a private company
in the Treasure Valley, and the
Baker City Fire Department,
generally respond to ambu-
lance calls in the Huntington
area, which includes a stretch
of Interstate 84.
“I think all EMS agencies
are feeling this,” Yencopal said.
“So, making sure they are
responding to their assigned
(ambulance service areas) and
how much mutual aid they
are able to provide, I don’t
know.”
Baker City Manager Jon
Cannon said earlier this
week that the Baker City
Fire Department, which also
provides ambulance service
to Baker City and to much of
Baker County, has a vaccina-
tion record or has approved an
exception for all the paid staff.
bution center for the program,
Defrees said the goal is make it
more of a standalone program
Continued from A1
rather than one specifically
affiliated with the church.
The program started 11
“That was partly to
years ago by the First Pres-
byterian Church as part of its encourage participation in
the community,” Defrees said.
mission group.
Many local businesses, civic “And also we’re still exploring
groups, churches and residents the possibility of becoming our
have contributed to the project. own 501(c)(3) so that we can
Although the basement of qualify for some additional
the First Presbyterian Church funding.”
Defrees said the Backpack
remains the pantry and distri-
Program has more volunteers
this year compared with last
year, when the pandemic dis-
couraged some people, when
volunteers were divided into
two rooms when food packages
were filled. This year’s opera-
tion is more typical of the past.
“We still have all of our
volunteers wearing masks and
social distancing whenever
possible but we have a pretty
strong crew that rotates pack-
ing,” Defrees said.
They are always looking
for volunteers to help with
fundraising for the program.
She said people are mostly
interested in helping with
packing, but there are ample
volunteers for that task now.
People who are inter-
ested in delivering bins to the
schools are also welcome to
volunteer.
“And there’s always an op-
portunity to get involved with
the board, with the leadership,”
Defrees said. “And people can
certainly call me or email me if
they have any interest in any
of those roles.”
The Backpack Program
accepts food donations, but
Defrees asks that people check
with her before they donate
due to the specific food items
and quantities that they need.
One example is peanut butter.
They cannot use the large jars
but they take the standard
smaller jars.
“We always welcome dona-
tions on our website link that’s
actually linked through the
church,” Defrees said.
People who are interested
in volunteering or have ques-
tions can reach out to Defrees
through her email at jessde-
frees@gmail.com.
More information on the
Baker City Backpack Program
is also available at https://
firstpresbaker.blogspot.com/p/
blog-page.html
COVID
have been hospitalized, and
1% have died.
Of the 325 people who
have died with a break-
through infection, 51% were
80 or older, and 78% were 70
or older, according to OHA.
Those two age groups account
for just 18% of the state’s
nearly 33,000 breakthrough
cases, however.
The agency has tallied
seven deaths in people ages
40 to 49 with breakthrough
infections, and two deaths
in people ages 30 to 39. No
deaths have been reported in
people younger than 30 with
breakthrough cases.
Almost 53% of the state’s
breakthrough cases have been
in people younger than 50.
Breakthrough cases
have accounted for a higher
percentage of deaths in Or-
egon since the delta variant
became the primary source of
infection in July.
The percentage of deaths
attributed to breakthrough
infections rose from 8.2% in
May 2021 to 19.8% in July
and to 23% in August.
The percentage dropped
to 19.9% during September,
when breakthrough infections
accounted for 126 of Oregon’s
633 COVID-related deaths.
The report also lists the
breakthrough case rate, per
100,000 vaccinated residents,
for each of the three vaccines.
• Johnson & Johnson,
1,779.4 cases per 100,000 vac-
cinated residents
• Pfizer, 1,137.7 per
100,000
• Moderna, 938.3 per
100,000
liminary numbers, however,
and additional doses could be
added for that period.
The county’s seven-day
running daily average of
Baker County’s vaccination
rate — 52.7% of residents 18
and older — is tied for the
fifth-lowest among Oregon’s
36 counties. Harney County
also has a 52.7% rate.
The counties with lower
rates:
• Lake, 43%
• Malheur, 46.2%
• Gilliam, 48%
• Grant, 48.4%
Vaccination rates for other
counties in the region:
• Wallowa, 66%
• Union, 56.6%
• Umatilla, 53%
Continued from A1
More Coverage
A 61-year-old Baker
County woman who died
Oct. 19 at Saint Alphon-
sus Medical Center in
Boise is the county’s 29th
COVID-19-related death.
The Oregon Health
Authority reported the
woman’s death today,
Oct. 22. She tested
positive on Sept. 21. The
presence of underlying
medical conditions has
not been confirmed.
Breakthrough cases
These infections in fully
vaccinated residents continue
to account for about 1 of every
5 cases in Baker County.
From Oct. 10-16, there
were eight breakthrough cases
out of 37 total, a rate of 21.6%.
That’s down slightly from
a 25% breakthrough case rate
from Oct. 3-9 (12 of 48) and
23.2% from Sept. 26-Oct. 2
(16 of 69).
Statewide, 23.5% of cases
from Oct. 10-16 were break-
OHA’s weekly break-
through, according to the
through case report notes
Oregon Health Authority
that overall, 4.4% of people
(OHA).
with breakthrough cases
Vaccination
After rising during
September, Baker County’s
daily average of vaccine doses
administered had dropped so
far in October, according to
OHA figures.
In September a total of
723 doses were administered
in the county, an average of
24.1 doses per day. That was
up from August’s total of
633 doses.
From Oct. 1-20, there were
350 doses given, a daily aver-
age of 17.5. Those are pre-