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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2021)
A4 THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021 U.S. boosting vaccine deliveries amid complaints of shortages BY JONATHAN DREW AND ZEKE MILLER Associated Press Answering growing frus- tration over vaccine short- ages, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 mil- lion Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the ad- ministration was working to buy an additional 100 mil- lion doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vac- cines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. Shortages have been so severe that some vaccination sites around the U.S. had to COVID-19 Continued from A1 Deschutes, Crook and Jef- ferson counties remain at ex- treme risk. Tillamook County was the big mover, dropping from extreme risk all the way to lower risk. Curry County went from moderate to lower. Grant rose from lower to moderate risk. All other counties remained in the current status. The levels will be in place from Friday through Feb. 11, with the next revision an- nounced Feb. 9 Brown said the state will issue new guidelines allow- ing for indoor activities that cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people seeking their first shot. “This is unacceptable,” Biden said. “Lives are at stake.” He promised a roughly 16% boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. Even more vaccine could be available if federal scientists approve a sin- gle-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is ex- pected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks. The U.S. Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention reported that the govern- ment plans to make about were previously banned in extreme risk counties. Beginning Friday, a max- imum of six people can be indoors at facilities such as gyms that are over 500 square feet. The new rules do not include indoor dining. Facilities smaller than 500 square feet may allow for one-to-one customer ex- periences, such as personal training. All facilities must follow guidelines on social distanc- ing, face coverings, hygiene and cleaning of surfaces. The full updated guidance will be posted to coronavirus.ore- gon.gov by Friday. Brown encouraged people to exercise outdoors when- 10.1 million first and second doses available next week, up from this week’s allot- ment of 8.6 million. The fig- ures represent doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vac- cines. It was not immediately clear how long the surge of doses could be sustained. Governors and top health officials have been increas- ingly raising the alarm about inadequate supplies and the need for earlier and more re- liable estimates of how much vaccine is on the way so that they can plan. Biden’s team held its first virus-related call with the nation’s governors on Tues- day and pledged to provide states with firm vaccine allo- cations three weeks ahead of delivery. Biden’s announcement came a day after he grew more bullish about exceed- ing his vaccine pledge to de- liver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office, suggesting that a rate of 1.5 million doses per day could soon be achieved. The administration has also promised more open- ness and said it will hold news briefings three times a week, beginning Wednesday, about the outbreak that has killed over 420,000 Amer- icans. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by mis- communication and unex- plained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. Officials in West Virginia, which has had one of the best rates of administering vaccine, said they have fewer than 11,000 first doses on hand even after this week’s shipment. “We have seen over the last several weeks that Oregonians have largely complied with risk levels to the point that we have not seen a surge in hospitalizations that would have jeopardized hospital capacity.” — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ever possible. “The science has shown us that outdoor activities are safer than indoor activities when it comes to the spread of COVID 19,” she said. But a recent drop in infec- tion rates and the lack of a major “spike” in COVID-19 cases over the winter holi- days allowed for some lim- ited indoor activity during the colder winter months. “We have seen over the last several weeks that Or- egonians have largely com- plied with risk levels to the point that we have not seen a surge in hospitalizations that would have jeopardized hos- pital capacity,” Brown said. e e gwarner@eomediagroup.com Homeless Continued from A1 But the COVID-19 pandemic is shaking up how this count is usually run. In response to guidelines from the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development, local govern- ments and nonprofit organiza- tions are asked to limit interac- tions between homeless people and volunteers by having fewer volunteers. Across the country, the pandemic has led several ar- eas to delay, or even cancel the Point-in-Time count altogether. In Deschutes County, it was tradition to advertise and hold large events that offered food to bring people to one place to take the survey. Those large events aren’t safe to hold anymore, said Colleen Thomas, the homeless services coordinator for De- schutes County. So this year, the region will rely on homeless service pro- viders and nonprofits to do the count over a 10-day period, which began on Jan. 20 and will end Jan. 29, and ask people whether they were homeless the night of Jan. 20 to maintain consistency. Service providers will use an app instead of paper surveys to capture demographic information, Thomas said. “We, as in the (Homeless Leadership Coalition), decided to move forward because we recognized the importance of the data,” Thomas said. But some service providers, including Thomas, fear these changes could lead the homeless population to be undercounted more than usual. Service providers for years Bulletin file In this January 2016 file photo, John Lodise with The Shepherds House in Bend helps Judy Vacha fill out a form for the annual Point-In-Time count of people who identify as homeless. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some social welfare advocates in Central Oregon worry that the 2021 count will be underreported. have warned that the Point-in- Time count, also known as the PIT count, already underrep- resents the number of homeless people in an area because it only shows data for what people were doing on one night in January. But with fewer volunteers and more reliance on service provid- ers to capture data from people spread out for miles all over ru- ral parts of the county, counting could be more difficult. COVID-19 regulations around gatherings have also complicated the counting effort. For example, the Family Kitchen — a nonprofit that serves meals to homeless people — shifted from indoor dining to to-go meals since the pandemic hit. In a more usual year during the PIT count, people are hang- ing out for longer, which means there is more chance for some- one to take the survey, said Donna Burklo, the program di- rector at Family Kitchen. With to-go meals, the only chance service providers have to talk to someone is while they are outside in line for food. “There’s a lot less opportunity to build up any rapport,” Burklo said. “I do think that’s going to make it pretty difficult.” Undercounting is an issue be- cause federal and state funding is often tied to PIT count num- bers. A lower number could make it look like the region needs fewer resources, accord- ing to social service providers. “I personally have concerns that an undercount may appear that homelessness is not a con- Our team of doctors passion for enhancing smiles brings you the best in modern dentistry. New Sewing Machines In-Stock Starting at $249 BACK TO REGULAR STORE HOURS! Cosmetic dental treatments can: Tuesday-Friday 9:30am-5pm Saturday 9:30am-3pm Brighten stained or discolored teeth • Repair cracks or fractures • Fill gaps between teeth • Correct overcrowding Reshape teeth • Replace missing teeth Replace old metallic restorations, such as fi llings and crowns 1245 SE 3rd Street, Suite B-1 541-383-1999 cscbend.com 965 SW Emkay Drive, Suite 100, Bend Call 541-383-0754 or visit www.awbreydental.com Vaccinations Continued from A1 That’s earlier by as much as three weeks for some groups. Un- der existing state guidance, those 80 and older aren’t eligible for the vaccine until Feb. 7. The 75 to 79 age group, according to state guide- lines, is Feb. 14. Those who are 65 and older, which represent about 20% of the population, are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine starting March 7, according to the state’s guidelines. John Owen, a Bend resident, re- ceived his vaccine at Summit Med- ical Group’s Bend Memorial Clinic. The 78-year-old was told to come in because they had 40 surplus doses that would go to waste. People age 70 and older account for 77% of the COVID-19 related deaths, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Similarly, Grant County has been issuing COVID-19 vaccina- tions to those 65 and older since Jan. 20. Some counties have vac- cinated people quicker than oth- ers, said Jonathan Modie, Oregon Health Authority spokesman. In Deschutes County, it is dif- ficult to know if everyone in the medical and educational fields re- ceived the vaccine, said Lisa Good- man, St. Charles Health System spokeswoman. “Generally we’re watching the scheduling and gauging demand for each group based on how quickly appointments are being scheduled,” Goodman said in an email. “If we see a discernible and consistent decline in registration, we advocate for moving forward to the next eligible group.” Neither the county nor St. Charles has data on how many ed- ucators or health care profession- als have declined to take the vac- cine. Even though the vaccinations are now available for those age 75 and above, educators and health care professionals can still sign up, Goodman said. “We want to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible and, provided we have the vaccines, we will continue to work hard to stay ahead of the state schedule,” Good- man said. cern in our region, which in fact is the exact opposite,” Thomas said in an email. “Not only does the PIT count affect potential funding streams, it gives a voice to those wanting to tell their story and helps to educate the greater public about the scope and barriers those experiencing homelessness in our community are facing.” Stacey Witte, the executive di- rector of the homeless outreach nonprofit REACH, said she is concerned homeless people will be undercounted more than usual because of the COVID-19 restrictions. She fears a lower count could impact getting grants to fund housing pro- grams, which would “impact all of us.” This year in particular is also harder than usual for homeless residents, too, she said. “They are in such (a) crisis; the last thing on their mind is to fill out an intake, understand- ably,” Witte said. Thomas said that of course the county will always have the concern about funding, but said HUD will give regions an opportunity to provide expla- nation. “Since all of the counties in our region are also still in the extreme high risk category in relation to COVID-19, they will take into consideration that along with how we report what our implementation of the sur- vey has been this year,” Thomas said in an email. But some service providers are optimistic about the count this year. John Lodise, the director of emergency services for Shep- herd’s House Ministries who runs the warming shelter, said traditionally the number of peo- ple who show up at the warming shelter tends to be lower around the time the county is doing the PIT count — possibly to avoid being asked to do the survey. But this year the count time has landed on a particularly cold and snowy week, bringing more people to the shelter, and thus more people to count, he said. Molly Heiss, the director of housing stabilization for the nonprofit NeighborImpact, said she thinks this year has the potential to produce a higher count than usual. She believes this because homeless residents already know and trust the service pro- viders who are asking them to Michael Steven Lake December 6, 1953 - January 16, 2021 Michael Steven Lake was born in Denver, Colorado on December 6th, 1953 to Elaine and Leo Lake. Michael graduated Jeû erson High in Edgewater, Colorado in 1972. He started his own security business at age 21 and con} nued to his death. Michael met and married his wife, Kathleen, August 15th, 1981. He worked hard with a mot o <Do it right the û rst } me.= He enjoyed û shing, crabbing, helping others, and spending } me with his family and children. He was preceded in death by his father Leo Lake. Michael is survived by his mother Elaine Craig, sister Sharon Lake Hasty, his wife Kathleen and children Paulet e, Jaden, Macayla, Taylor, Alethea, Jade, Celeste, and granddaughter Rae. 123RF How to make an appointment People who want to sign up can schedule an appointment at st- charleshealthcare.org or by call- ing 541-699-5020. Expect to leave a message and receive a call back. An appointment for the second dose of the vaccine is scheduled at the time of the first dose. The county and St. Charles have opted to issue vaccinations at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond. With the help of the Oregon National Guard, health officials expect to use the entire 11,775 dose allotment that arrived on Tuesday. Last week more than 4,600 vac- cines were given to those eligible, said Morgan Emerson, Deschutes County Health Services spokes- woman. “Our current vaccine supply al- lows us to move into adults 75 and older,” Emerson said in an email. “We’re excited to have the oppor- tunity to begin vaccinating Central Oregonians.” To date, 589,200 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority dashboard. At the Jefferson County clinics, COVID-19 vaccine schedules are being filled up with people who are in other classifications, said Tami Kepa‘a, Jefferson County public health spokeswoman. At this time, only members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have re- ceived a second dose, Kepa‘a said. e e e e Reporter: 541-633-2117, sroig@bendbulletin.com; EO Media Reporter Gary Warner contributed to this story. take a survey, versus having un- known volunteers coming into their camp. Usually, the region has trou- ble counting people who are chronically homeless because they are reticent to take the sur- vey, she said. “I think the more visibility and trust we build, the more likely we are to count the more chronically homeless,” Heiss said. e e Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com Mary L. Gilbert of Bend, OR January 8, 1938 - January 19, 2021 Arrangements: Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home is honored to serve the family. 541-382-2471 Please visit the online registry for the family at www.nis- wonger-reynolds.com Services: A gathering of family will be held at a later date Contributions may be made to: Habitat for Humanity 224 NE Thurston Ave, Bend, OR 97701 Donna M. Furry of Bend, OR August 19, 1930 - January 13, 2021 Arrangements: Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home is honored to serve the family. 541-382-2471 Please visit the online registry for the family at www.nis- wonger-reynolds.com Services: A memorial gathering will be held at a later date Marshall Albert Rogers of La Pine, OR March 1, 1947 - January 21, 2021 Arrangements: Baird Memorial Chapel of La Pine is honored to serve the Rogers family. Please visit our website, www.bairdfh.com, to share condolences and sign the online guestbook. 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