THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021 A9
Vaccines
try to jump-start the reopen-
ing of schools, the governor
decided to place more than
150,000 educators, school em-
ployees and day care workers
ahead of any age group. The
decision went against recom-
mendations by the U.S. Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention that age should be
the primary factor in deciding
vaccine priority. But states are
given the right to make the fi-
nal decision.
The schools group became
eligible in January, but is only
partially vaccinated.
The state’s plans were up-
ended when a court order re-
quired the state to prioritize
prisoners and staff in correc-
tional facilities, which have had
some of the highest infection
rates in the state. Brown said
about 5,000 shots per week
from the state’s pool of doses
will go to an estimated 12,000
inmates and staff at state cor-
rectional institutions.
Allen said all eligible groups
will start receiving vaccinations
on the date listed by the state,
but will be sharing the limited
supply with uncompleted pri-
ority groups ahead of them and
eventually new ones behind.
Allen said OHA is aiming
to have 75% of seniors receive
their first shots by April, with
second shots by May.
That’s actually about a
month earlier than OHA’s most
recent timelines. Allen said the
state has twice as many work-
ers ready to give shots than
doses allocated to the state
each week. The Biden admin-
istration has promised a 20%
increase in vaccine shipments
to Oregon.
“That’s good news for se-
niors,” Allen said.
Brown is also assigning 200
National Guard troops to op-
erate a new phone bank to
handle questions on vaccines.
National Guard troops have
already been called to duty in-
oculating residents at vaccine
centers.
Brown and OHA officials
also said Friday that they did
not have statistics on the num-
ber of people who are not yet
eligible who have been vacci-
nated.
While some have received
shots because of the need to
use up the fragile bottles of
vaccine before they expired, re-
ports of doses intentionally of-
fered to people not in a priority
group have been made public.
Board members of Providence
Health & Services in Portland
were offered vaccinations in
December and January, ac-
cording to news reports this
week.
“We all hate people who butt
in line,” Brown said.
The state also has no statis-
tics on the number of people
in the top priority groups that
are declining to be vaccinated
or no-shows on scheduled ap-
pointments that leave doses
unused.
“We don’t know who didn’t
show up or why they didn’t
show up,” Allen said.
The next priority group se-
quence is still being worked
out by Brown and the OHA.
An advisory committee created
by Brown has suggested people
of any age with an underlying
medical condition that makes
them vulnerable to a severe in-
fection or death should be at
the top of the list.
The state also wants to target
“essential workers,” a category
yet to be completely defined by
the state.
There are an estimated 3.2
million adults in Oregon’s pro-
jected 2021 population. Allen
reiterated that barring a ma-
jor increase in the amount of
vaccine available, many Ore-
gonians will not be vaccinated
until autumn. No vaccine has
yet been developed that the
U.S. Food and Drug Admin-
istration says can be used on
Commission Chair Tony
DeBone, who was on the com-
mission eight years ago and
helped hire Anderson, praised
Anderson for his ability to
adapt to challenging situa-
tions and manage the county
through dynamic times, in-
cluding coming out of a reces-
sion and a pandemic.
“We’ve worked together very
well,” DeBone said. “He’s very
professional.”
The commission is in the
early stages of planning the
recruitment process to fill An-
derson’s seat. It is an unusual
process for the county, which
has only had three administra-
tors since 1978, said DeBone.
Nick LeLack, who succeeded
Anderson as the director of
the Community Development
Department, said Anderson’s
departure will be hard for him
and several of his colleagues.
“I’ve never had a boss I’ve
respected more and worked
more closely with,” LeLack
said.
LeLack credits the county’s
strong financial position and
high morale more to Ander-
son’s leadership skills, and said
Anderson over time has in-
stilled a love for public service
throughout the organization.
Anderson was a good
leader with a “calm, steady
demeanor,” LeLack said, and
made sure to support individ-
ual departments while letting
department heads lead.
“He’s been a tremendous
mentor to me, and he will have
very big shoes to fill,” LeLack
said.
Over the course of his tenure
as administrator, Anderson said
he wasn’t proud of any one par-
ticular achievement, but instead
was proud of being a leader who
got departments to work to-
gether and to think outside their
organizational boundaries.
“My job is to create an en-
vironment or a culture where
good things can happen,” An-
derson said.
The biggest challenge of
Authority spokesman. It’s par-
ticularly worrisome with four
cases of the highly contagious
U.K. variant being detected in
Bend wastewater, Portland and
in Yamhill County.
“That we now have variants
that make the virus more conta-
gious makes indoor gatherings
extremely risky,” Modie said.
The state suggests instead:
• Wear team logo or deco-
rate your house with the team
colors.
• Make appetizers or snacks
with people you live with to
enjoy while watching the game
and share the recipes with
family and friends outside the
household.
• Start a group text with
other fans while watching the
game.
• If you must gather, do it
outdoors where you can be 6
feet apart.
Continued from A1
There is no central state reg-
istry or appointment line.
Allen said the fragmented
system is necessary so that vac-
cination distribution matches
the needs of local commu-
nities, not a “one-size-fits-all
Portland” solution.
Brown acknowledged the
beginning of an exasperating
stretch as seniors and their
families try to navigate the
growing chasm between gov-
ernment’s promise and deliv-
ery.
“I want to thank our seniors
for their patience thus far, and
for their continued patience in
the coming days and weeks,”
Brown said. “We are still man-
aging a scarce resource. There
will be hiccups in this process,
but we are going to get through
them.”
More than 350,000 people in
Oregon — about 8.8% of the
population — have received at
least one shot of vaccine, rank-
ing Oregon 12th in the nation.
Oregon’s vaccine priority
system is already straining to
get shots for groups already
eligible. Medical and health
workers were in group 1a,
which has been largely but not
wholly completed.
The other group in the top
priority were residents of nurs-
ing homes, who received some
of the first shots that became
available late last year.
Seniors in long-term care
facilities were vaccinated, but
those living independently or
with their families have had to
wait.
In a controversial move to
Anderson
Continued from A1
“It’s something I’ve been
thinking about for awhile,” An-
derson said Tuesday. “It’s the
right time in my personal life.”
A longtime county em-
ployee, Anderson was first
hired to work as a senior
management analyst in the
Community Development
Department in 1998. He was
promoted to the director of
the department in 2005 before
accepting the job as county ad-
ministrator in 2013.
Super Bowl
Continued from A1
“That’s all we’re doing spe-
cial for the Super Bowl,” said
Mackenzie Miller, a manager.
“It’s kind of a bummer. Typi-
cally we’re packed.”
State health officials are
worried too about Super Bowl
Sunday, which traditionally
means gatherings of people
outside a household, said Jon-
athan Modie, Oregon Health
Ryan Brennecke/EOMG file photo/Oregon Capital Insider
Karla Toms, a registered nurse with St. Charles Health System, administers a vaccine in the arm of Suzi Smith, of
Bend, during a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond in January.
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Reporter: 541-633-2117,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
T RINITY E PISCOPAL
C HURCH
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Love God,
Love Your Neighbor,
Love Yourself
Find it all online
Worship online @
www.trinitybend.org
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Meal schedule @
www.familykitchen.org
anyone under 16.
Brown said Oregon remains
one of the safest spots in the
nation. Infection and death
rates are the fourth lowest in
a country where over 450,000
people have died. Though it
accounts for just 4% of the
world population, the U.S. ac-
counts for more than 20% of
COVID-19 deaths. Worldwide,
there have been over 105 mil-
lion infections and 2.2 million
deaths.
The current Pfizer and Mod-
erna vaccines require two shots
spaced about a month apart.
Once administered, they are
95% effective in preventing in-
fection.
There are some other hope-
ful signs: After surging in
November and December,
COVID-19 infections have
dropped off sharply, though
are still above most levels seen
in the spring and summer.
Johnson & Johnson on
Thursday asked the FDA for
emergency approval of its vac-
cine. If approved by late Febru-
ary, the vaccine could arrive in
states in early March.
The upside on the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine is it only re-
quires one shot. It has a lower
efficiency rate of 72% in a
sample U.S. population, but it
can be shipped and used more
rapidly than the Moderna and
Pfizer vaccines.
More information is avail-
able at covidvaccine.oregon.
gov. The state is also provid-
ing information through its
211 phone system, texting
ORCOVID to 898211 and by
emailing ORCOVID@211info.
org
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gwarner@eomediagroup.com
the job is to adapt to different
kinds of people and respond,
rather than force his own will
upon any issue, Anderson said.
But even the challenges he
will miss.
“I’m going to miss the peo-
ple first and foremost,” he said.
“And even after all this time,
I get a daily rush coming into
work.”
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Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com