STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
A9
COVID-19 vaccine eligibility moves up for many Oregonians
Everyone eligible by May 1
ELIGIBILITY TIMELINE
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
March 22
More than 1 million new people
will be added early to the eligibil-
ity list for COVID-19 vaccinations,
Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday
morning.
People aged 45 to 64 with seri-
ous medical conditions that would
likely result in severe illness or death
if they contracted COVID-19 can be
vaccinated March 22 in some coun-
ties — a week earlier that previously
scheduled.
Counties would only need to sub-
mit a written statement to the Ore-
gon Health Authority that they had
“largely” vaccinated those aged 65
and above, the last of whom became
eligible on March 1. OHA officials
said counties can proceed with vac-
cinations beginning Monday with-
out having to wait for approval or
even a response from the state.
Migrant and seasonal farm work-
ers in counties where they are cur-
rently already working can also be
vaccinated.
Brown said the earlier start date
was to allow the groups a chance at
getting inoculated ahead of the fed-
erally mandated deadline to remove
all eligibility requirements by May
File photo
Gov. Kate Brown
1. Oregon’s phased eligibility pro-
gram didn’t call for opening vacci-
nation to all adults until July 1 —
two months later.
President Joe Biden announced
last week that all adults would be
eligible for vaccination on May 1.
Oregon Health Authority officials
and Brown said they would be stick-
ing with their timeline until they
could be guaranteed additional vac-
cine shipments to meet the increased
demand unleashed by Biden’s order.
But Allen testified Wednesday to
the House Subcommittee on COVID-
19 that the state had received a direc-
tive from the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services that said
the May 1 date was not optional, but
“binding” and “regulatory.”
States have had wide latitude in
how they have dealt with the COVID-
19 public health crisis, including vac-
cine priority. But the federal govern-
ment determines how much supply is
• Counties that attest to largely
completing the vaccination of
residents 65 and older may begin
vaccinating the next eligible
groups.
• Vaccinations may also begin
for migrant and seasonal farm
workers in counties where they
are currently already working.
March 29
• All adults 45-64 with underlying
health conditions,
• Migrant and seasonal farm
workers,
• Seafood and agricultural work-
ers,
• Food processing workers,
sent to each state.
Brown said during an online press
call Friday that earlier or increased
eligibility won’t translate into imme-
diate availability.
“This doesn’t mean that every
Oregonian will be able to get a shot
right away,” Brown said.
Demand has outstripped supply
in Oregon and other states. OHA
• People living in low-income se-
nior housing, senior congregate
and independent living,
• Individuals experiencing home-
lessness,
• People currently displaced by
wildfires,
• Wildland firefighters and
• Pregnant people 16 and older.
April 19
• Frontline workers as defined by
the CDC,
• Multigenerational household
members and
• Adults 16-44 with underlying
health conditions.
May 1
• All Oregonians 16 and older
has been averaging about 24,000
shots per day — mostly the two-
shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
A one-shot Johnson & Johnson
vaccine is increasingly available.
Oregon is currently receiving
about 200,000 doses of vaccine
per week from the federal gov-
ernment. Allen has said the state
needs at least 100,000 additional
doses or more to meet Biden’s
goal without creating an even big-
ger gap between those who want
shots and the amount of vaccine
available.
Brown said that equity had
been a key to her approach to pri-
oritizing vaccinations. With the
new Biden directive, she said Ore-
gon would move up the start time
for some in the next two eligibility
groups to give them at least a head
start before the general public.
The remainder of the original
March 29 group will be eligible
as planned. This includes people
who are pregnant and aged 16 or
over, all adults 45-64 with under-
lying health conditions in all coun-
ties, all migrant and seasonal farm
workers, seafood and agricultural
workers, food processing work-
ers, people living in low-income
senior housing, senior congregate
and independent living situations,
the homeless, people displaced by
wildfire and wildland firefighters.
Another 550,000 people who
were to be eligible on May 1 have
had their start date moved to April
19. The group includes those age
16 to 45 with underlying condi-
tions, frontline workers as defined
by the Centers for Disease Control
and people living in multi-genera-
tional households.
Pessimism pours like rain in Oregon, survey says
By Zane Sparling
Oregon Capital Bureau
A growing share of Ore-
gonians think the state is
headed down the wrong
track, if not at risk of derail-
ing completely, according
to polling data from the
Oregon Values and Beliefs
Center.
Some 44% of Beaver
State residents are pes-
simistic about Oregon’s
future, while only 35% are
optimistic and the remain-
ing 21% are unsure. Those
results show a flip-flop
from summer 2020, when
43% believed the state
was headed in the right
direction.
“As a whole, the gov-
ernment is infuriating,”
Melissa Aspell, one of
the poll’s respondents,
said in a phone interview.
“There’s a lot of frustra-
tion with how Gov. (Kate)
Brown runs things. And
then clean up Portland, for
God’s sake!”
Aspell, a 39-year-old
Bend resident, said she
was concerned about the
overgrowth of “cook-
ie-cutter homes” in her
neighborhood and the mis-
allocation of government
resources, but noted that
local parks are well main-
tained and she has been
able to receive a COVID-
19 vaccination.
“(Some people) are
pretty sure it’s full of nano-
bots or something, but con-
spiracy theories aside, I had
a considerably bad reac-
tion to the second one,” she
said. “But I feel that was
something my body needed
to go through.”
Roughly 600 Orego-
nians, who are part of a
professionally maintained
polling group, participated
in the online survey in Jan-
uary, with participants
selected to correspond with
state demographics. The
poll’s overall margin of
error is 4%.
Here are the key
findings:
• Democrats (51%) are
significantly more posi-
tive about the state’s near
future, compared with
Republicans (23%) and
voters who belong to nei-
ther party (28%). Con-
versely, 66% of Republi-
cans had a negative view of
Oregon’s future, compared
with 29% of Democrats
and 48% of independents.
• Just 2% of poll respon-
dents rated Oregon’s econ-
omy as excellent, vastly
outnumbered by those
who scored the state econ-
omy as poor (31%) or only
fair (47%). Middle income
earners (83%) were more
likely to downrate the econ-
omy than the working class
(74%).
• Nearly half of residents
(47%) predict Oregon’s
economy is getting worse,
compared to 11% who
see an upturn on the hori-
zon and 36% who foresee
it treading water. Women
(52%) were more likely to
predict tighter wallets than
men (43%). The most pes-
simistic age group was the
middle aged.
• A slim majority (53%)
are very or somewhat wor-
ried about their personal
finances, while 45% are
not too worried or not at all
worried. Nearly two-thirds
(63%) of those making less
than $50,000 are concerned
about the state of their
pocketbook,
compared
with 33% of those bring-
ing in more than $100,000
yearly.
• When asked about
2021 in general, rather than
just Oregon, most residents
(59%) are optimists, though
(38%) are pessimistic.
Portlander Amy Brad-
ley said the biggest factor
in her sunny outlook was
the rebalancing of power in
Washington, D.C.
“I think the Demo-
crats holding two branches
of government is a good
thing,” the 51-year-old
said. “People are out and
spending money. Help is
coming, and is coming to
those who need it.”
Chris Billington, who
lives in the Sylvan area
near Beaverton, admit-
ted that mask wearing can
be tiresome — and she’s
eager for restrictions to
lift so she can take a dip
in the pool — but said the
state’s response to climate
change promised economic
opportunities.
“There’s a potential for
new and different kinds of
jobs,” she said. “My big-
gest concern is the Repub-
lican walkout (of the Ore-
gon Legislature), because
that’s just disruptive.”
Republicans walked out
of the 2019 and 2020 legis-
lative sessions, and briefly
walked out again this year.
The 2020 walkout ended
the session before it really
began.
MT. VERNON
PRESBYTERIAN
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John Day Valley
Redeemer
Mennonite
Church
Lutheran Church
Meeting every Sunday
at Mt. Vernon Grange Hall
1 st Sunday Worship/Communion ..................10am
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2 nd , 4 th & 5 th Sunday Worship .........................10am
Sunday Bible Study .....................................8:45am
Sunday School ...............................9:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship ............10:50 a.m.
Pastor Leland Smucker
Everyone Welcome • 541-932-2861
Come Worship with us at
154 E. Williams St.
Prairie City, Oregon
541 820-4437
2 Corinthians 5:17
Every Sunday in the L.C.
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10:45-12:00
(Corner of Second & Allen)
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Catholic Church
For information: 541-575-2348
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Full Gospel- Come Grow With Us
541-575-1202 Church
311 NE Dayton St, John Day
Pastor Al Altnow
Corner of S Canyon Blvd and SW 2 nd
JOHN DAY
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METHODIST
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St. Anne
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cornerstonejohnday@gmail.com
ccfjd.org
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126 NW Canton, John Day
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Tune into KSPL 98.1 FM
Community Church
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CHURCH OF THE
NAZARENE
Sunday School .......................... 9:30 am
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SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO
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Episocopal
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Pastor Randy Johnson
521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895
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59357 Hwy 26 Mt. Vernon
Seventh-Day
Adventist
Church
SATURDAY SERVICES
Celebration of Worship
JOHN DAY
110 Valley View Dr.
541-575-1216
Head Elder ..........................541-575-2914
Bible Classes (all ages) .................9:30 am
Worship ...........................................11 am
LONG CREEK
E. Main Street
541-421-3033
Head Elder .................................421-3468
Bible Classes (all ages) ......................2 pm
Worship .............................................3 pm
Jr./Sr. High
Youth Connection
Sundays 5:30pm
Youth: 0-6th Grade
Midweek Service
Thursdays 6:30pm
Youth: 0-6th Grade
Wednesdays at 6:30pm
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Mondays at 6pm at
LWCC
A Christ-Centered, 12-Step
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www.livingwordcc.com
S232608-1