The BulleTin • Wednesday, June 23, 2021 A13
Biden urges shots as concern grows around variant
Efforts increase to get younger Americans vaccinated for COVID-19
BY ZEKE MILLER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
U.S. government is stepping up
efforts to get younger Ameri-
cans vaccinated for COVID-19
as the White House acknowl-
edges it will miss two key vac-
cination benchmarks and as
concern grows about
the spread of a new
variant that threat-
ens to set the country
back in the months
ahead.
The delta vari-
ant, first identified in
Biden
India, in the last two
weeks has come to
represent more than 20% of
coronavirus infections in the
U.S., the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention re-
ported Tuesday. That’s double
what it was when the CDC last
reported on the variant’s prev-
alence.
“The delta variant is cur-
rently the greatest threat in the
U.S. to our attempt to elimi-
nate COVID-19,” Dr. Anthony
Fauci, the nation’s top infec-
tious disease expert, said at a
White House briefing on the
virus. “Good news: Our vac-
cines are effective against the
delta variant.”
He added: “We have the
tools. So let’s use them, and
crush the outbreak.”
The White House on Tues-
day acknowledged that Pres-
ident Joe Biden will fall short
of reaching his goal of vacci-
nating 70% of all American
adults with at least one shot by
Independence Day. But it tried
to paint an optimistic picture
nonetheless by stressing that
the nation had reached that
COVID-19
Continued from A1
Brown said Clatsop Coun-
ty’s cases and rates would have
qualified it for high risk level,
but the state would allow it
a caution week at its current
lower risk level ranking in or-
der to try to get its infection
rate back down.
Josephine County also met
the criteria for high risk, but
would be given a caution week
at moderate risk to work on
dropping its case rates.
As of Friday, 23 counties
will be at lower risk, seven at
moderate risk and six at high
risk.
Polk County became the
ninth county to move to the
lower risk level regardless of
the county’s infection rates
due to meeting the goal of
having 65% of residents with
at least one shot of vaccine. Its
status is effective immediately.
Brown asked Oregon resi-
dents to encourage friends and
family to get the vaccine as
the best way to protect them-
selves, their families and com-
munities from COVID-19.
The state will hold a draw-
ing Monday in which one
Fire
Continued from A1
A red flag warning was in
place for Central Oregon on
Tuesday. Red flag warnings
mean warm temperatures, low
humidity and strong winds can
combine to produce increased
fire danger. The National
Weather Service forecasts tem-
peratures in the high 90s by
Saturday.
The pre-positioning of fire
crews is a rare event in Central
Oregon and comes after wild-
fires tore across the state at the
end of last year’s wildfire sea-
son. The Labor Day wildfires
burned large areas of Western
Oregon and left Central Oregon
covered in a thick pall of smoke
for nearly a week. Johnson said
this is the first time he has seen
crews moved in his nine years
as fire chief in Sisters.
The fire alert comes after
thunderstorms Monday after-
noon sparked around 15 small
fires around Central Oregon.
Two of the Monday fires grew
to half an acre, said Christie
Shaw, a spokesperson for the
Oregon Department of For-
estry. The other fires were
threshold for those aged 30
and older and expects to meet
it for those age 27 or older by
the July 4 holiday.
Biden also expects to miss a
second goal — fully vaccinat-
ing 165 million adult Amer-
icans by July 4. White House
COVID-19 coordinator Jeff
Zients projected it
will take several more
weeks to hit that num-
ber. On Monday, the
U.S. crossed 150 mil-
lion fully vaccinated.
White House press
secretary Jen Psaki
rejected the idea that
the missed July 4
benchmarks would represent a
failure for the administration,
telling reporters, “We don’t see
it exactly like something went
wrong.”
Still, administration officials
said they were redoubling their
focus on vaccinating younger
Americans age 18-26, who
have proved to be least likely
to get a vaccine when it’s avail-
able for them.
The nationwide rate of new
vaccinations has dropped off
precipitously over the past
month even as shots have be-
come more available, with
fewer than 300,000 Americans
now getting their first dose per
day on average — a pace that,
if sustained, will have the U.S.
not reaching Biden’s 70% goal
until late July at the earliest.
Officials are also increas-
ingly concerned about re-
gional variations in the vacci-
nation program.
More than 16 states and the
District of Columbia have vac-
cinated 70% of their adult pop-
ulation. But others — particu-
vaccinated Oregon resident
will receive $1 million. One
resident from each of Ore-
gon’s 36 counties will also re-
ceive $10,000. The state will
also name five students, aged
12 to 17, to receive $100,000
Oregon College Savings Plan
scholarships.
OHA confirmed that be-
cause the state was close to
reaching the governor’s target
for at least one shot of vaccine,
it would no longer issue risk
level rankings after Tuesday.
Health officials said the
lifting of restrictions by Gov.
Brown is subject to U.S. Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention guidance for use of
masks and physical distancing.
President Joe Biden has said
he wants Americans to enjoy
as close to normal July 4 holi-
day as possible.
California and New York
last week joined a growing list
of states to meet their vaccina-
tion goals and “reopen” public
life by lifting mask restrictions
and allowing larger numbers
of visitors to places like Disne-
yland and Yankee Stadium.
Vaccination in the United
States has slowed severe illness
and death, though new vari-
single- tree incidents or fires
that covered just one-tenth of
an acre, said Shaw. A recon-
naissance flight patrolled the
area Tuesday looking for addi-
tional fires.
Fire officials are concerned
that drought conditions across
Central Oregon have made
the area a tinderbox for wild-
fire. Most of Deschutes County
is in exceptional or extreme
drought, while nearly all of
Crook County is in extreme
drought.
“We are anticipating record
temperatures, 100 degrees plus
over the weekend, so obviously
it’s concerning for us based on
our fuel conditions,” said Shaw.
“The thunderstorms are going
to come with high winds. Fu-
els are receptive to ignition and
then you add wind to it which
can cause rapid spread.”
Three of the Monday fires
were visible near Ochoco Res-
ervoir and one was located
east of Powell Butte, said Shaw.
None of the fires threatened
any homes.
Mike Shaw, district forester
for the Central Oregon District
of the Oregon Department of
Forestry, said the fires were rel-
larly in the South and Midwest
— are lagging substantially be-
hind, with four not having yet
reached 50% vaccination rates.
The White House said meet-
ing Biden’s vaccination goals is
less important than the pace of
the nation’s reopening, which
is exceeding even its own in-
ternal projections as the over-
whelming majority of the na-
tion’s most vulnerable people
are fully vaccinated and cases
and deaths are at their lowest
rates since the earliest days of
the pandemic, averaging about
11,000 new infections and
fewer than 300 deaths per day.
More states are opening back
up, with Michigan on Tuesday
becoming the latest to do away
with a mask mandate and vi-
rus restrictions. The state had
the nation’s worst outbreak
this spring.
“We have succeeded beyond
our highest expectations,” Ze-
ints said.
Americans at highest
risk for complications from
COVID-19 are overwhelm-
ingly vaccinated, according to
CDC data, but only 53% aged
25-39 have received one dose.
Among those 18-24, it’s 47%.
“Where the country has
more work to do is particu-
larly with 18 to 26 year olds,”
Zients said.
Zients and government
experts said the rise of the
delta variant should motivate
younger Americans to get vac-
cinated.
“The reality is many
younger Americans have felt
like COVID-19 is not some-
thing that impacts them, and
they’ve been less eager to get
the shot,” Zients said. “How-
Rogelio V. Solis/AP
First Lady Jill Biden comforts Christian Lyles, 13, who expressed his fear of needles as he received a vaccina-
tion from nurse Maggie Bass, center, during Biden’s visit Tuesday to a COVID-19 vaccination site at Jackson
State University in Jackson, Mississippi. The visit was part of Biden administration’s nationwide tour to reach
Americans who haven’t been vaccinated and to promote vaccine education.
ever, with the delta variant
now spreading across the
country, and infecting younger
people worldwide, it’s more
important than ever that they
get vaccinated.”
The variant is taking root as
there are warning signs about
a possible surge in cases in un-
vaccinated corners of Amer-
ica. Rural sections of Missouri,
including Springfield and
Branson, have seen a dramatic
spike in COVID-19 hospital-
izations in recent weeks that
health officials attribute in part
to the delta variant spreading
among younger, unvaccinated
residents.
“There is a danger, a real
danger that if there is a per-
sistence of a recalcitrance to
getting vaccinated that you
could see localized surges,”
said Fauci.
Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyo-
ming, Alabama and Idaho are
all below 40% of their popula-
tion with at least one dose of
vaccine.
The White House planned
to focus on increasingly local
vaccination pushes, with first
lady Jill Biden traveling Tues-
day to Mississippi and Tennes-
see to promote vaccinations
and Biden himself set to visit
North Carolina on Thursday.
The variant is accounting
for half of new infections in
the regions that include Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska,
Colorado, Montana, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Utah
and Wyoming.
County COVID-19 risk categories,
effective June 25 to July 1
LOWER RISK (23)
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file
Masked visitors stroll along Brooks Alley in May 2021 during the
Bend Farmers Market. Mask mandates will be lifted statewide when
Oregon hits a 70% vaccination rate.
ants that are more contagious
are causing a rebound in some
areas.
Oregon has reported
207,105 COVID-19 cases and
2,757 deaths as of Tuesday, ac-
cording to the Oregon Health
Authority
Just under 33.6 million
cases of COVID-19 have been
reported in the United States
since the virus was first found
in Washington State in Feb-
atively easy to control.
“We have enough resources
to manage the fires that we
picked up in that lightning
and there was just a little bit
of moisture with it,” he said.
“That allowed us a little bit
of time so we could jump on
them pretty quick to get them
corralled while they were still
small.”
While the Monday night
fires have been contained, a fire
on the Warm Springs Indian
Reservation continues to burn
out of control. The S-503 Fire
has burned 6,200 acres and is
10% contained.
Mike Shaw said his crews
use GIS systems to monitor
lightning strikes and prepare
to respond to fires. The system
will come in handy in the com-
ing days, he said, as more light-
ning is expected, combined
with warm temperatures.
“There is a lot of nervous-
ness,” said Mike Shaw “We are
going to be flying detection
flights over the next few days.
Detection is going to be key for
the next three or four days in
front of that heat.”
e
Reporter: 541-617-7818,
mkohn@bendbulletin.com
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Benton
Clackamas
Clatsop
Coos
Curry
Deschutes
Gilliam
Grant
Hood River
Lake
Lane
Lincoln
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Multnomah
Polk
Sherman
Tillamook
Union
Wallowa
Wasco
Washington
Wheeler
MODERATE RISK
(7)
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from High)
• Josephine
• Klamath (Moved
from High)
• Marion (Moved
from High)
• Yamhill
HIGH RISK (6)
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Columbia
Crook
Douglas
Linn
Malheur
Umatilla
ruary 2020, according to the
Johns Hopkins Coronavi-
rus Resource Center. The vi-
rus has killed 602,350 in the
United States.
The virus is still spreading
rapidly in parts of the world,
as new variants are also re-
ported. Worldwide, there have
been over 178.9 million cases
and just under 3.87 million
deaths.
e
gwarner@eomediagroup.com
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