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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2022)
BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2022 A5 OREGON Oregon spent $2.4M on a digital COVID-19 vaccine card few using BY FEDOR ZARKHIN The Oregonian Oregonians have used the state’s $2.4 million digital COVID-19 vaccine card pro- gram only about 50,000 times, far less than people in Wash- ington used their state’s app and at more than twice the cost. Oregon released its vac- cine card web application in late April, with fanfare, pro- viding Oregonians with a method to obtain digital proof that they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the form of a scannable QR code. In theory, that meant peo- ple didn’t have to fear losing their paper vaccine card or fret about forgetting it at home, while businesses would have an easy and efficient way to confirm patrons’ vaccination status. But whether Oregonians have decided they don’t need the digital card or simply ha- ven’t heard it is available, it’s clear relatively few are opting to use it. As of June 30, about 45,000 Oregonians had downloaded QR codes showing proof of vaccination a total of 50,730 times, with 6,000 repeat us- ers. That amounts to one download for every approx- imately 83 Oregonians, and one download for every 63 Oregonians who have re- ceived at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. That rate is nearly 11 times smaller than what Washington achieved about three months after it made digital vaccine cards available in October. The difference in timing may have made all the difference. By the time Oregon made the vaccine card web appli- cation available April 25, COVID-19 restrictions were already being lifted and the state and country were moving psychologically past the pan- demic. That, said one national expert on immunization infor- mation tech systems, may ex- plain why so few people went on to download a QR code. “There was a little more of a Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin file Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations sit on a tray ready to be administered during a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Downtown Bend Public Library. COVID focus in the fall and a little bit less in early 2022,” said Mary Beth Kurilo, a senior di- rector at the American Immu- nization Registry Association. The Oregon Health Author- ity, which is responsible for the state’s application, agreed. Washington launched its vac- cine card application during a surge in cases while Oregon did not, spokesperson Rudy Owens said in an email. The states also had different vac- cine requirements when the tools launched. Oregon officials say how many people actually use a state-issued digital vaccine card is not what matters most. “The download rate isn’t something we are measuring as indicative of project suc- cess,” Owens said in an email. Instead, Owens said, the agency focused on making the application accessible to as broad a swath of the popu- lation as possible, “intention- ally” launching it slower than neighboring states as Oregon consulted with the community on how to make the roll out equitable and accessible. Kurilo praised Oregon’s ap- proach, saying it serves as a model for the kind of health equity focus other states should have. While it may have taken longer to get off the ground than vaccine cards in other states, the work Oregon put into making a digital vac- cine card accessible to all puts the state in a good position if future COVID-19 surges prompt more restrictions or vaccine requirements. “The solution Oregon built is a lasting one,” Kurilo said. But if raw uptake is a mea- sure of success, then Oregon’s program has performed abys- mally compared to its neigh- bors to the north and south. About three months after Washington’s October launch, the digital vaccine cards were downloaded 1 million times, or once for roughly every 7.7 residents of the state. As of July 1, Washingtonians had down- loaded cards 1,250,000 times. “I feel that having over 1 million downloads in less than a year speaks to suc- cess,” Washington Depart- ment of Health official Chris Baumgartner said in an emailed statement. In California, 8.2 million people have so far downloaded QR codes proving vaccination status, out of a total population Nationwide mental health crisis line, 988, launches BY JAMIE PARFITT AND PAT DOORIS KGW News PORTLAND — July 16 marked the launch of 988, the three-digit hotline for getting help in a mental health crisis — meaning that these calls will soon be accessible in the same way that emergency services are through 911. The big lingering concern is whether Oregon is prepared for what could be a surge in calls prompted by the greater acces- sibility of the resource. Stake- holders say that the state should be on the right track. Hotlines have been working to hire more call takers, and the initial bump in call volume is expected to level off soon before following a steadier upward trajectory in the next few years. In June, KGW’s Pat Doo- ris spoke with Dwight Holton, head of Lines for Life. Call tak- ers at the Portland-based non- profit help 37,000 people per year with a variety of issues in- volving mental health and drug abuse. The current phone num- ber, 800-273-8255, is 10 digits long. As of July 16, they can be reached by simply dialing 988. “Really excited. 988 is gonna be a new service, a new way to reach help when you’re in crisis,” said Holton. As CEO of Lines for Life, Holton offered ideas during the development of the new nation- wide plan. He believes that the simple number will make a big difference. “We’ve had, for many years, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline,” Holton said. “What 988 is gonna do is transform that by making it super easy to get help when you’re in crisis or when you see someone else in crisis. Just like we have 911 for when you have a police or fire emergency, we’ll have 988 for when there’s a mental health crisis.” One of the things Holton mentioned is key — the ho- tline will also be available to call when someone else is in cri- sis, not just the caller. The 988 number will allow you to report when people seem to be strug- gling, and when things work as intended, a mental health spe- cialist will respond . The idea, similar to Portland Street Response, is to take some of the load from police and emergency dispatchers — not just in big cities but in any com- munity in the U.S. “We believe there’s a real op- portunity here to take some of that need and bring it to 988, because lots of the folks that are calling 911 are really call- ing about a mental health chal- lenge,” Holton said. “And that’s not an appropriate law enforce- ment role — that’s not what they’re trained to do and it can be dangerous.” It remains to be seen how this part of the program will work at the outset, when these kinds of crisis response programs are still in their infancy — if they exist at all — in many areas of the country. But Oregon may be ahead of the curve compared to many other states. Portland Street Response is expanding, if over- whelmed by the number of calls for service. Meanwhile, its Eu- gene-area forerunner practically set the standard that other na- scent crisis response programs aspire to. of 39 million. The state was among the earliest to launch a digital vaccine card, first made available in June 2021. It made the code supporting the web application available to other states for free. “The rapid development and launch of (the vaccine card) was significant in in- creasing vaccination rates and kickstarting economic activ- ity,” a spokesperson for Cali- fornia’s health agency said in an email. To be sure, Oregon’s web app has been available less than three months, compared to the full year California’s has been open to the public and eight months Washington’s app has been available. Oregonians to vote on gun control measure BY PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to require firearms training and ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. The Oregon Elections Di- vision said a ballot initiative to do so has qualified for the general election. The state val- idated 131,671 of the 160,498 petition signatures (82%) submitted by sponsors. The number was more than the 112,020 required, based on 6% of the votes cast for gov- ernor in the 2018 election, a standard fixed by the Oregon Constitution. Voters will see a total of four measures on the general election ballot, two initiatives that qualified by petition and two constitutional amend- ments referred by the Legis- lature. This measure would limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds each. In addition to the limit, the measure would require people to undergo classroom and live-fire train- ing before they obtain a fire- arms permit, and complete background checks. (Current law allows a purchaser to ob- tain a gun even if the check is incomplete after three days; the measure would compel the check to be completed.) 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Ten Black people were shot dead May 14 in a supermar- ket in Buffalo, and 19 chil- dren and two teachers died 10 days later at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The Rev. Dr. W.J. Mark Knutson, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, said those events helped pro- duced more than 1,000 new volunteers and 150,000 more signatures. “People were saying they could not sit anymore, so we had 1,000 new volunteers come forward to join the 500,” Knutson said in an interview earlier in July. “A lot were parents with children — it was pretty amazing. They are learning about democracy. “The process is as import- ant as the result — demo- cratic action by the people. In this nation right now, we need to see democracy at work.” Movement leaders shelved a second ballot measure that would have banned some as- sault weapons. Knutson said leaders hope to present it as a bill to the 2023 Legislature, which opens Jan. 9. The measure joins three others on the general election ballot. 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