THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2021 A13
Vaccine
ing used.
Its statistical drawbacks have
drawn the most attention. The
Johnson & Johnson vaccine
has shown an efficacy of about
80% in tests. The Moderna and
Pfizer vaccines have an efficacy
of more than 95%.
CDC officials have said that
even if there is a slightly higher
chance of getting infected with
COVID-19 with the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine, it is strong
enough to prevent severe ill-
ness and death.
On the positive side, the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine re-
quires only one shot.
That makes it a boon for
inoculating parts of the pop-
ulation that are difficult to
reach for second doses or those
who might not return for the
booster of Moderna or Pfizer.
Because it only needs stan-
dard commercial-level refrig-
eration, it can be transported
to areas farther away in rural
or mountainous areas. The
Pfizer and Moderna doses
have to be kept in ultra-cold
freezers, then thawed before
being administered.
The White House on Tues-
day told states to plan on ad-
ministering 16 million to 17
million total weekly doses of
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines
by the end of March, climb-
ing to 17 million to 18 million
weekly by early April.
More is on the way. States
receiving 14.5 million doses of
the Pfizer and Moderna vac-
cine will receive 15.2 million
doses next week.
Johnson & Johnson says it
can ship 2.8 million doses to
states this week of vaccine pro-
duced as it anticipated federal
approval. But it won’t be able to
sustain that number immedi-
ately. The company produced
3.9 million doses total prior to
federal approval on Saturday.
The company says it will
meet its commitment to de-
liver 100 million doses by June
30. The deal with Merck could
double production within two
months.
The Biden administration
estimates that after a short dip
in doses, the increased produc-
tion aided by Merck will rise
to 4 million to 6 million doses
per week by March 31 and 5
million to 6 million doses per
week by April 30.
When the first two vaccines
were approved in December,
U.S. officials were optimistic
that some of the more than 20
Currently, the only weapon
that Democratic leaders have
is minor financial fines and
withholding per diems for ex-
penses. A resolution to change
the constitution to make a ma-
jority the minimum for a quo-
rum has been introduced this
session. Even if it won legisla-
tive approval, the change in the
constitution would have to be
referred to votes. The earliest
the change could go into effect
would be 2022.
With battles over the bud-
get, taxes, guns, environmental
issues, vaccines, housing aid
and police reform expected to
come up for votes, Kotek said
there is concern that Republi-
cans will depart again to derail
majority rule. No lawmaker
will be up for election again
until 2022, leaving the status
quo likely in place for the ses-
sion this year and next.
as the Legislature.
No VIP pass
Oregon lawmakers are get-
ting or asking for special access
to vaccinations for COVID-19.
The Legislature is part of the
“essential worker” group that
will be eligible May 1. Some
lawmakers can get vaccinated
earlier as qualifying under cur-
rently eligible groups such as
health care workers or those
age 65 and older. Colorado is
the only state that has inoc-
ulated legislators as part of a
“continuity of government”
effort. In Oregon, Brown has
also yet to receive vaccine.
Though Brown would likely
qualify for an exemption un-
der U.S. Center for Disease
Control and Prevention rules,
she would qualify under the
same essential worker category
Blankenship testifies on
redistricting headaches
Local officials will have to
scramble to deal with the fall-
out of the long delay in reap-
portionment of political dis-
tricts, Deschutes County Clerk
Nancy Blankenship testified
last week before the House Re-
districting Committee.
Blankenship appeared in her
role as co-chair of the legisla-
tive committee of the Oregon
Association of County Clerks.
The 2020 Census data to redis-
trict legislative and congressio-
nal maps for the 2022 election
won’t arrive until September,
six months past the federal
deadline. The COVID-19 pan-
demic made gathering popu-
lation data difficult. The delay
means the Oregon Supreme
Continued from A1
Oregon will receive 34,000
doses of the Johnson & John-
son vaccine. Every county will
initially receive 100 doses to
familiarize health officials with
the vaccine, the first new vac-
cine since December.
“Because doses will be lim-
ited for the first few weeks, the
state has committed some al-
locations to addressing access
issues for some Oregonians
who’ve experienced barriers to
getting vaccinated,” said Jona-
than M. Modie, lead commu-
nications officer for the Ore-
gon Health Authority’s public
health division.
About 4,800 doses will go to
local public health authorities
to vaccinate Oregonians liv-
ing in adult foster homes and
other in-home senior popula-
tions.
Walmart and Bi-Mart, two
new partners in the state’s
pharmacy vaccinations pro-
gram, will also receive the
Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Additional doses will go to
some unspecified health sys-
tems in the state.
The new vaccine has pros
and cons compared to the two-
shot vaccine from Moderna
and Pfizer that is currently be-
Politics
Continued from A1
That’s 20 out of 30 senators.
Democrats hold 18 seats.
“We cannot normalize the
behavior of people walking off
the job,” House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, said during
a press call on Monday. “It was
bad in 2019 when this hap-
pened. It was bad in 2020. It’s
deplorable that it’s happening
now, again, in the middle of a
crisis.”
Republicans made the
surprise move without tell-
ing Senate Democrats or the
House Republican caucus. In a
letter to Gov. Kate Brown, the
11 Republicans said they were
absent to protest her extension
of an emergency order that al-
lows her to decide if businesses
and schools are open or closed.
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file
Karla Toms, a registered nurse with St. Charles Health System, adminis-
ters a vaccine in the arm of Suzi Smith, of Bend, during a COVID-19 vac-
cination clinic at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond
in January.
additional vaccines in various
stages of development would
soon flood the country with
enough doses to quickly inoc-
ulate all Americans.
But vaccines developed by
Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and
Sanofi failed, and research was
discontinued.
A vaccine by AstraZeneca
did not meet federal standards
for test reliability. It is in use in
Britain and other parts of the
world. Vaccines by Russia and
China are considered unreli-
able by U.S. standards.
Vaccination rates have
picked up in recent weeks.
The CDC said just under 51
million Americans have re-
ceived at least one shot of the
Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. Of
those, about 25.5 million have
received both shots to become
fully vaccinated.
That still accounts for just
over 15% of the adult popula-
tion vaccinated since the first
vaccines were introduced at
the end of last year.
Oregon is nearing 1 million
total shots. Mass vaccination
centers have been joined re-
cently by a pharmacy program
that allows residents to be in-
oculated closer to home.
In Oregon and other states,
demand for vaccine has far
outstripped supply. With ad-
ditional groups being made
eligible, the competition for
appointments to get inoculated
has been intense.
Vaccination appointments
filled rapidly, and breakdowns
in websites and communi-
cation have plagued getting
doses into people’s arms.
Recent severe winter
weather across the United
States, including ice storms in
Portland and Salem, hampered
distribution and forced cancel-
lation of thousands of appoint-
ments.
CDC officials have said that
when 70% to 80% of the popu-
lation is vaccinated, the coun-
try will reach “herd immunity”
that will protect even the un-
vaccinated because the virus
will not find enough hosts to
infect.
A key step remaining is to
develop a vaccine for children.
The current vaccines are only
authorized for those 16 and
over.
Biden has said that any ex-
cess doses of vaccine could
be sent to aid foreign coun-
tries to help the long-term
suppression of COVID-19
around the globe. There have
been 114.7 million infections
and 2.54 million deaths from
COVID-19 worldwide.
Court will decide whether the
Legislature, secretary of state
or courts will draw the new
maps.
The process is always polit-
ically charged, especially this
year with Oregon expected to
get a sixth congressional dis-
trict, the first change in delega-
tion size in 40 years.
Blankenship submitted a let-
ter with detailed requests from
the clerks’ group. It asked law-
makers to consider the impact
of their decisions on a long list
of related but often overlooked
impacts on items such as com-
munity college, library, and
other local panels.
The best route to less tur-
moil is simplicity and trans-
parency, Blankenship testified.
“We would urge avoiding,
whenever possible, dividing
cities by federal and state leg-
islative district lines, espe-
cially smaller cities,” she said.
“In the event that cities must
be divided, consideration of
city council districts, city ur-
ban growth boundary, county
boundary, school districts and
other affected communities of
interest should be taken into
consideration before confusing
divisions are adopted.”
Before any final decision
was made, she asked that
county officials get a chance to
look at the maps and raise pos-
sible conflicts before the deci-
sions are finalized.
“Allow county elections offi-
cials time to provide feedback
and clarification to the Legis-
lature on proposed changes as
we may be able to provide an-
swers that help avoid mistakes
from being made,” she said.
e e
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gwarner@eomediagroup.com
gwarner@eomediagroup.com
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