Gov. Brown: National Guard to support state efforts to ramp up vaccinations
(Update: Adding video, Gov. Brown news release)
Why prioritize educators over seniors? 'These are really, really tough decisions'
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Oregon National Guard is joining Oregon’s effort to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations, along with numerous steps by the Oregon Health Authority to get more doses into the hands of those who give them, Gov. Kate Brown and other officials said Friday.
Hospitals have stepped up efforts to vaccinate front-line workers like home health care workers and first responders, said the governor, who recently set a goal of 12,000 Oregon vaccinations a day within two weeks.
“We are deploying the National Guard to provide vaccination support,” she said, starting with an event this weekend with logistical and nursing support for an event at the state fairgrounds in Salem, with a goal of 250 vaccinations an hour. (The governor's office later clarified that the Guard members are being processed and would not be available for this weekend's Salem Health event, which will proceed as planned.)
Later, responding to a reporter’s question, Brown said the state is “absolutely” working to make similar mass vaccination events happen with Guard support elsewhere.
“Partnerships and creative thinking are how we do it in Oregon, and how we’re going to achieve the critical mass and community immunity we need,” she said.
Brown also noted the recent move to give school districts, working with local health officials, the ability to reopen for in-person learning with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. She said she prioritized educators to be next in line to receive vaccines, noting “we have seen across the world how schools can reopen, with rigorous health protocols in place.”
But the governor said officials also are waiting to see the impact of holiday gatherings on case numbers, with “a second, possibly worse winter surge” making keeping up health and safety protocols still important.
OHA Director Patrick Allen said the state has received more than 250,000 Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and nearly 74,000 vaccination doses have been given to health care workers, first responders and skilled nursing homes.
Allen outlined a variety of steps to ramp up vaccinations, but noted that Oregon is in the middle of the pack in terms of rollout, with 1.5% of Oregonians having received their first dose.
The state has allocated vaccine doses to 190 sites, with another 30 being added next week, but Allen said the vaccine doses don’t pass through OHA but go directly to the sites from manufacturers. He said the state has called over 100 sites to review vaccination plans and have prioritized those who can dispense the doses within seven days at high volumes.
Federal pharmacy partners in Oregon will receive nearly 20,000 doses next week to vaccinate residents at assisted living facilities, foster homes and independent and congregate living situations, Allen said.
Allen noted the infection rate improved in late November, as Oregonians “stayed home at Thanksgiving and made a difference,” but a sharp increase followed, and that could continue. Mask use is at an all-time high and vehicle trips are down, “but the virus is spreading faster again across the nation,” Allen said.
Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill said the state will receive about $500,000 in emergency relief funding that can be used to support COVID-19 efforts in schools, from academic and mental health support to the logistical and physical plant requirements. He also said ODE is working with the OHA on plans to provide rapid-result COVID-19 tests in schools.
A reporter asked why, with vaccines on the way, it took until Thursday for the first meeting of the state’s new vaccine advisory committee, to determine future priorities beyond “Phase 1a.”
Allen noted that 500,000 Oregonians were prioritized ahead of the committee’s work, but that the details of how many doses of vaccine were coming had been in “extreme flux.” The panel convened “after we knew as much info as we could. Our target is to complete sequencing decisions by the end of January.”
Reporters also asked why educators have been prioritized ahead of seniors who are wondering when they will be able to be vaccinated.
“These are really, really tough decisions,” Brown said. “We don’t have the vaccines to vaccinate everyone at once.”
Brown said she is “gravely concerned” about the impact on children who have been out of in-person classes for close to a year.
Allen repeated his prior statements that it will take “many months” before enough people are vaccinated to reach community immunity. He said new information comes in daily, not just about the virus and the recently discovered mutated, more transmissible form, but also about how many doses will truly be coming and how soon.
Brown said, “We’re working as hard and as quickly as we can to get vaccines out to all our vulnerable populations, including the elderly.”
News release:
Governor Kate Brown Provides Updates on COVID-19 in Oregon
OHA is making progress towards goal of 12,000 vaccinations per day, National Guard to provide vaccination support
(Salem, OR) — Governor Kate Brown held a press conference today to update Oregonians on the status of COVID-19 vaccinations in Oregon, as well as school reopening plans. The Governor was joined by Patrick Allen, Director of the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Colt Gill, Director of the Oregon Department of Education, and Dr. Dean Sidelinger, State Epidemiologist.
"OHA is working with health care providers, pharmacies, and local public health partners to make steady progress toward achieving our goal of 12,000 vaccines administered per day," said Governor Brown. "We continue to look at how we can use every tool we have to swiftly vaccinate Oregonians, and in that spirit, I am deploying the National Guard to provide vaccination support, starting this weekend with Salem Health’s vaccination event at the state fairgrounds. These partnerships will help us achieve the critical mass of community immunity we need.
(The governor's office later issued a correction, stating: Governor Brown has activated Oregon National Guard members to support vaccination efforts, beginning with the Salem Health vaccination event at the state fairgrounds. However those members are being called up on orders and processed this weekend, and are expected to begin in their support role in Salem by Tuesday. This will not impact Salem Health’s operations, which will be administering vaccines as planned this weekend.)
"On the education front, at the start of the new year, Oregon’s COVID-19 health metrics for returning to in-person instruction became advisory, empowering local school districts and communities to make decisions regarding in-person instruction that best meet the needs of their families and students. All Oregon schools will still be required to adhere to health and safety measures in order to open any in-person instruction, and they must continue to work in close consultation with their local public health authority."
More information on vaccines is available at covidvaccine.oregon.gov.
A copy of the Governor's remarks is available here.
