A4
COVID-19
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
First COVID-19 vaccines
are administered in Oregon
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
The first doses of a
COVID-19 vaccine were
administered in Oregon on
Dec. 16, beginning a process
that won’t likely be finished
until summer.
Two Portland area hos-
pitals and one in Ontario in
Malheur County took part in
a live video feed of the first
doses of the Pfizer vaccine
being administered to health
care workers. The vaccine
requires two shots, with about
three weeks in between.
Gov. Kate Brown said it
had been 292 days since the
first COVID-19 case was
confirmed in Oregon.
“This is truly the moment
we have all been waiting for,”
Brown said during the event,
“the beginning of the next
chapter of the epidemic.”
The symbolic first shots
were given at Legacy Health
and the Oregon Health &
Science University in Port-
land, and Saint Alphonsus in
Ontario. The Ontario hospi-
tal said it had already started
inoculations earlier in the
day.
“In the last two hours,
we have vaccinated over 20
frontline caregivers, includ-
ing providers, nurses, respi-
ratory therapists, radiol-
ogy techs and lab,” said St.
Alphonsus Chief Nursing
Officer Dina Ellwanger.
Oregon Health Author-
ity Director Pat Allen said
the state so far has received
5,800 doses of the Pfizer vac-
cine, with more coming in the
next two weeks.
With a second vaccine
made by Moderna approved
by the Food and Drug Admin-
istration, Allen said the state
will have enough vaccine by
the end of the year to inocu-
Eagle file photo
Grant County Public Health Administrator Kimberly Lindsay during a session of County Court.
PMG file photo
The first COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Oregon Dec. 16.
late 100,000 people.
The state reported 4,475
health care workers were
vaccinated during the first
week.
For most Oregonians,
the vaccine is months away
— perhaps as late as sum-
mer, according to comments
by health officials during the
event.
The first doses are going
to health care workers and
other facility staff who are
likely to come into con-
tact with COVID-19 posi-
tive patients, or their waste
products.
The second group to get
the shots will be older resi-
dents of nursing homes and
other congregate care facil-
ities who have underlying
conditions that make them
especially vulnerable. Staff
at the facilities will also be
inoculated. About half of
all deaths in Oregon have
occurred in congregate care
facilities.
The additional rankings
for the next set of vaccines
is under review with input
from community groups,
Allen said. Essential work-
ers and those over 65 with
underlying conditions such
as heart disease and diabetes
are expected to be priorities.
Allen and Brown said
there is some indication that
the recent rise in infections
is starting to slow. But state
officials have warned that the
“darkest days” of the pan-
demic that began in February
are still to come.
The current forecast from
the The Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation in
Seattle, which is among the
metrics used by federal and
state officials, forecasts that
at current rates, the death toll
nationwide is on track to top
500,000 by April 1, including
more than 5,000 in Oregon.
Brown declined to com-
ment on the forecast, say-
ing instead that Oregonians
needed to keep up with lim-
ited activity, social distanc-
ing, wearing masks and wash-
ing their hands frequently.
Five new COVID-19 cases
reported since last Wednesday
Hospital expects to
receive Moderna
vaccine soon
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County reported
another positive COVID-19
case Tuesday, according to a
press release from the health
department.
The health department
has reported a total of 163
cases, including five since last
Wednesday.
Grant County Public
Health Administrator Kim-
berly Lindsay said the num-
ber of people being hospital-
ized due to COVID-19 in the
county’s Region 7 is at 62 as
of Monday. She said eight
people with COVID-19 were
in intensive care units.
“After a brief downward
trend,” she said, “COVID-
19 hospitalizations are again
trending upward, with num-
bers of hospitalized COVID-
19 patients nearing previous
record highs.”
Rebekah Rand, Blue
Mountain Hospital District
director of emergency medi-
cal services, said the hospital
received word from the state
they will likely receive some
doses of a Moderna vaccine,
which was recently approved
by the FDA.
“We have continued to
actively participate in the
OHA process, and it has been
communicated that BMHD
will most likely receive Mod-
erna, but have not been given
an (estimated time of arrival)
as of yet,” Rand said.
According to Lindsay,
Grant County would not be
receiving any of Pfizer’s first
vaccines that arrived last
week.
She said that only the
larger hospitals with cold stor-
age freezer units will receive
the initial Pfizer vaccines.
According to OHA, they
will prioritize people who are
most at risk and hardest hit.
Frontline health care work-
ers will receive the first vac-
cinations, focusing on staff
exposed to the virus in their
work. Residents and staff in
nursing homes and other long-
term care facilities also will
be among the first vaccinated.
OHA notes the vaccine
won’t end the pandemic, but
vaccination will. Everyone
must be vaccinated to achieve
community immunity, accord-
ing to OHA.
According to OHA, it
joined with California, Wash-
ington and Nevada to provide
the fourth level of scrutiny
with a scientific safety review
committee to review trial data
to ensure that the vaccines
will be safe and effective.
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy
New
Year!
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