Gov. Kate Brown planned to release the latest news on the state’s COVID-19 response from 11 a.m. Watch her press conference here:
Government officials, increasingly confident in the supply of vaccines, are speeding up their vaccination timeline. Officials say the increased supply will help them vaccinate a majority of Oregon seniors in early April. That means the state can switch to other groups almost a month earlier than previously expected.
It’s welcome news as Oregon prepares to open vaccinations to nearly 800,000 seniors on Feb. 8, doubling the number of eligible people. Despite a relatively smooth rollout, there have been speed bumps and bottlenecks, and many health workers in the state’s most densely populated counties are still waiting their turn. When people over 65 qualify, government officials expect those problems to only worsen.
“When you saw the senior category roll out everywhere else in the country, it was really chaotic. And it gets chaotic here too, ”said OHA Director Patrick Allen. At least in the beginning, there won’t be enough vaccines or appointments to go around.
To aid the flood of avid appointment seekers, Oregon Governor Kate Brown plans to mobilize the National Guard to assist Oregon’s COVID-19 helpline, reachable by calling 211.
The Biden government announced that states would be notified of their vaccine supply three weeks in advance. Oregon health officials announced Friday that starting next week, Oregon’s vaccine shipments will increase by 20%, from 55,000 first doses per week to 75,000 first doses per week. Additional shots will also become available through the federal pharmacy program.
Allen is convinced the state has the capacity to get doses in the arms the same week that the shots arrive.
‘We use an average of 16,000 doses per day. At this point, our peak day was last Friday. We administered 24,000 doses over the day, and everyone who was vaccinating asked for more, ”said Allen.
If you do the math, said Oregon Health Authority vaccination chief and Chief Financial Officer Dave Baden, Oregon, will have received enough vaccine doses by early April to immunize 75% of Oregon seniors. “And a few weeks later we have enough for the entire population.”
Once that 75% benchmark is reached, other groups can schedule appointments.
But there will be a period, from February to March, when the demand for vaccines will significantly outstrip supply, and supply and demand will differ from country to country. This applies to much of the rollout.
For some Oregonians, getting vaccinated was easy. Some counties vaccinated all of their health and school personnel. But more densely populated counties struggle to reach health workers not affiliated with major hospital organizations. OPB has spoken to nurses, teachers, and home care providers in Portland who are struggling to make appointments using online tools, competing for appointments with a variety of less-than-intuitive online sign-up systems.
Different provinces will see different solutions.
“It’s frustrating, but because of the way things work, it will vary statewide with 34 different local public health authorities,” Allen said.
Related: As the virus toll rises in Eastern Oregon, leaders question equality of access to vaccines
In Douglas County, for example, vaccines are sent to pharmacies and medical offices.
“There won’t be such a thing as a big, you know, deadlocked appointment system. They’re so big it’s kind of doable, ”Allen said.
Healthcare workers in the Portland metropolitan area are frustrated with the current system, which means they can only schedule appointments a week in advance at the Oregon Convention Center. Allen said they will soon be able to make appointments several weeks in advance.
Kelly Beckley, RN, is preparing the Pfizer vaccine ahead of the opening of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic to be held at the Oregon Convention Center on Jan. 27, 2021.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Robb Cowie, communications director for the Oregon Health Authority, told OPB that a new web system scheduled for launch next week will solve some of the problems with that appointment scheduling system so far.
Currently, people can only sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine in English or Spanish. The new tool supports 12 languages. Currently, a person can only schedule one appointment at a time. This means that caregivers and the people they care for must make separate appointments and make multiple trips to vaccination centers.
The new website will also change that. People can create a profile and use that profile to sign in multiple people at the same time.
Pharmacies in Portland and across the state will also receive vaccines direct from the federal government.
Despite all the plans, Allen acknowledged, “It’s going to be a traffic jam. The first weeks get very hairy. “
There are still not enough appointments for everyone. It is very likely that appointments will be completed quickly and people will still likely log in to find that no appointments are available. Even if the National Guard waits on the phone to provide technical support, there will be a wait.