(Update: More OHA information)

State also sees first 'breakthrough cases' involving fully vaccinated people

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Federal COVID-19 vaccine shipments continue to ramp up and Oregon will proceed as scheduled with lowering the eligible age from 80 to 75 on Monday, state health officials said Friday. They also noted that four fully vaccinated Willamette Valley residents have been diagnosed with mild cases, which they said is not unexpected.

“It’s a serious, but not surprising development,” Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen told reporters as he reported two such cases in Linn County and two in Yamhill County among residents more than two weeks after their second and final dose.

Allen said the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are highly effective, but “even with 95 percent effectiveness, some people will get sick. That’s common with all vaccines.”

Though demand continues to outstrip the available doses, Allen said the state is still on pace to vaccinate 75 percent of all Oregonians eligible for the vaccines, including seniors, by early April.

As of the end of this week, more than 500,000 Oregonians will have received at least their first of two doses, representing 70 percent of the 720,000 people eligible in the Phase 1a and 1b categories. The state’s latest seven-day rolling average is 17,000 shots given a day.

Starting next week, Oregon will receive another 3,000 Moderna vaccine doses, while 6,000 more doses are being sent to Oregon’s federally qualified health centers.

With the federal launch this week of the retail pharmacy program, more than 120 pharmacies around the state (mainly Safeway, Albertson’s and Costco for now) are also starting to receive vaccines, but with only 100 doses per site per week, they, too, are getting more demand than supplies so far.

Thousands of doses are also going to mass vaccination sites, such as in the Portland area and the Redmond site.

While President Biden’s news Thursday of ordering 200 million more doses is welcome news, the reality is that those added doses are still “months away,” Allen said.

Allen said that with enough supplies to reach a goal of 25,000 vaccinations a day, the state is on track to reach “community immunity” by fall.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer, said the trend of declining daily cases continues. In early January, the seven-day rolling average was 1,149 cases – as of Thursday, it’s down nearly 50 percent, to 551. Monday’s count of 305 new cases was the lowest since Oct. 19.

The state is reporting 517 new cases Friday, raising the total to nearly 150,000, but hospitalizations are down from nearly 600 at the peak to 209 today. The number of COVID-19 related deaths has reacted nearly 300, but the percentage of positive tests is down to 4.2 percent.

Still, Sidelinger said it’s still a long road ahead, with 27 counties still in the Extreme or High Risk categories, based on case numbers and other data. He noted that as more businesses reopen, even in limited fashion, cases are likely to increase again.

The four “breakthrough cases” of people diagnosed with COVID-19 more than two weeks after their second shot involve people with either no or mild cases, Sidelinger noted, and while not unexpected are being investigated to determine their origin.

Allen stressed, “We still are not going back to the way things were before.”

More information from OHA on Friday:

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People 75 and older will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday

Starting Monday, Feb. 15, people in Oregon who are 75 years of age or older become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Adults who are eligible can use the following resources to get linked to vaccine information in their communities. Tools that allow scheduling will be available with new appointment slots at 9 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays:

• Get Vaccinated Oregon: Find answers to basic questions to learn if you are eligible and get linked to information about vaccinations in your county. You can also sign up for alerts to get notified about upcoming vaccination events or find out when you may become eligible. Find this tool at covidvaccine.oregon.gov or getvaccinated.oregon.gov. 
• Vaccine Information chat bot on the covidvaccine.oregon.gov website is available to find out if you’re eligible for a vaccine in Oregon or to get answers to other questions about vaccines. If you live in Clackamas, Columbia, Marion, Multnomah or Washington counties you can schedule vaccine appointments by using the Vaccine Information chat bot. The friendly Vaccine Information chat bot tool is an orange box that appears when you open the covidvaccine.oregon.gov website. 
• 211: Text ORCOVID to 898211 to get text/SMS updates about vaccination clinics in English or Spanish or email ORCOVID@211info.org. If you can’t get your COVID-19 vaccine question answered on the website, by text or by email, you can call 211 or 1-866-698-6155, open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, including holidays. Please be aware that wait times may be long due to high call volumes.

Updates on COVID-19 and pharmacy program partnership

Today, Oregon Health Authority and its partners provided an update on COVID-19 vaccinations and more. The recording (including ASL interpretation) is available here, and the slides from today’s briefing are here.

Among the topics discussed was a new partnership. The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program is a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks to increase access to COVID-19 vaccination across the country.

• The program is coming online this week in Oregon. Shipments arrived on Feb. 10 at 127 retail pharmacies in Oregon.
• This program offers locations in 27 of Oregon’s 36 counties. These locations include 103 Safeway/Albertson’s locations, 13 Costco Locations, and 11 Health Mart (independent affiliate) pharmacies.
• The retail partners in this program will screen for the appropriate age band per Oregon’s vaccine plan, starting with people 75 and older.

Eligible Oregonians can make appointments at these retailers’ websites, but note that each site is currently only scheduled to receive 100 doses per week. That means there will not be enough vaccines to immunize all eligible Oregonians at these locations.

The chain pharmacies’ websites are as follows; individual Health Marts will need to be contacted directly:

• Costco: costco.com/covid-vaccine.html
• Safeway/Albertsons: safeway.com/pharmacy/covid-19.html

Due to the limited federal supply going to these pharmacies, you can also go to covidvaccine.oregon.gov to find out if you are eligible, sign up for notifications, and get connected to county-specific information about vaccinations.

CDC provides tips on how to improve your mask fit

Most people know now that masks are one of the primary tools we have of keeping ourselves and others safe from getting COVID-19. Even as more people are getting vaccinated, masks will continue to be a regular part of our lives.

Masks work best when everyone wears them consistently and correctly. The CDC has updated its guidance on how well your mask fits and filters the air, and how many layers it has.

Two ways to help your mask protect you

1. Make sure your mask fits snugly against your face
2. Pick a mask with layers or wear a disposable mask underneath a cloth mask

OHA is investigating ‘breakthrough’ cases

OHA today announced the discovery of four “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19. These are cases where a person has tested positive for COVID-19 at least 14 days after completing their vaccination series.

Two of the cases are in Yamhill County, and two are in Lane County. OHA is working with local public health officials to investigate the origin. Their illnesses range from asymptomatic to mild symptoms.

Genome sequencing is underway, and we expect results next week.

Such cases are not unexpected. Both COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, but even with vaccines that are 95 percent effective, some people will get sick. This is common with all vaccines.

Clinical trials of both vaccines presently in use included breakthrough cases. In those cases, even though the participants got COVID-19, the vaccines reduced the severity of illness. Based on what is known about vaccines for other diseases and early data from clinical trials, OHA experts believe the existing vaccines are very effective.