Oregon reports 3 more COVID-19 related deaths, 340 new cases

OHA reports on 'small risk' of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) associated with Johnson & Johnson vaccine

PORTLAND, ore. (KTVZ) -- There are three new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,800, the Oregon Health Authority reported Tuesday.

OHA also reported 340 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, bringing the state total to 211,065.

Small risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) associated with Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that reports to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) indicate a small risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) following receipt of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. About 100 preliminary reports of GBS have been filed with VAERS after the administration of 12.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine. The cases were largely reported about two weeks after vaccination and mostly in males. This pattern has not been seen with the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines after the administration of more than 321 million doses in the United States. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised its fact sheets for the J&J vaccine, stating that “Reports of adverse events following use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine under emergency use authorization suggest an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during the 42 days following vaccination.” 

GBS is a rare condition that damages nerve cells. The cause of the condition is unclear. According to CDC, the condition often follows a viral or bacterial infection. It has also been associated with influenza vaccination, although studies suggest one is more likely to get GBS from the flu itself than from a flu vaccine. Most people recover from GBS, but some have had permanent nerve damage.

CDC will review data related to the risk of GBS, as well as the overall benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at an upcoming Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting.

Oregon health care worker COVID-19 vaccination rates are higher than rates among the broader public, but disparities persist

By the end of June, 94% of Oregon dentists, nearly nine in 10 medical doctors and nearly eight in 10 nurse practitioners had been vaccinated, according to new data released by OHA. Overall, more than seven in 10 health care workers in Oregon were vaccinated, outpacing the adult vaccination rate at the time.

However, state data show that health care workers among American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Latino/a/x, Black and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities were under-vaccinated compared to their white counterparts. State health officials pointed out that health care professions reflect the communities from which they are drawn, and disparate rates of vaccinations based on race/ethnicity could be due to many factors, including age and structural barriers that hinder professional advancement and licensure.

Health care worker vaccination rates varied based on licensee type, age, race, ethnicity and geographic location. The data are part of a new dashboard that reports COVID-19 vaccination rates among more than 20 categories of state-licensed health care workers in Oregon. OHA will continue to monitor and update vaccination rates among these workers monthly.

OHA Director Patrick Allen said: “A fully vaccinated health care workforce is vital to patient safety and to protect the public against the pandemic. We’ll continue to support health systems and state licensing boards to increase health worker vaccination rates.”

State-licensed and registered health care occupations include:

• Nursing: nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, certified nursing assistant
• Emergency Medical Services: paramedic, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), EMT-Intermediate, Advanced EMT, Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)
• Medicine: medical doctor, osteopathic doctor, physician assistant, acupuncturist
• Dentistry: dentist, dental hygienist
• Pharmacy: pharmacist, pharmacist technician
• Occupational therapy: occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant
• Naturopathy: naturopathic physician
• Respiratory therapy: respiratory therapist
• Certified traditional health workers
• Chiropractic: chiropractic physicians, chiropractic assistant
• Massage therapy: licensed massage therapist

Vaccinations in Oregon

Today, OHA reported that 5,005 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 2,779 doses were administered on July 12 and 2,226 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on July 12.

The seven-day running average is now 4,791 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered 2,583,281 first and second doses of Pfizer, 1,758,704 first and second doses of Moderna and 174,003 single doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of today, 2,432,897 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,234,820 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.

Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused many providers to lag in their reporting. OHA has been providing technical support to vaccination sites to improve the timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).

To date, 2,973,195 doses of Pfizer, 2,259,580 doses of Moderna and 299,100 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to sites across Oregon.

These data are preliminary and subject to change.

Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated today.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 111, which is two more than yesterday. There are 30 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is one more than yesterday.

The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity.

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

St. Charles Bend reported 10 COVID-19 patients as of early Tuesday, one of whom is in the ICU on a ventilator.

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (5), Benton (5), Clackamas (25), Clatsop (9), Columbia (6), Coos (4), Crook (7), Deschutes (6), Douglas (10), Harney (2), Jackson (48), Jefferson (4), Josephine (15), Klamath (15), Lake (4), Lane (24), Lincoln (6), Linn (9), Malheur (6), Marion (28), Multnomah (17), Polk (9), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (30), Wasco (1), Washington (36) and Yamhill (7).   

Oregon’s 2,798th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old man from Columbia County who tested positive on March 19 and died on March 30 at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,799th COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old man from Columbia County who tested positive on Nov. 20, 2020 and died on Nov. 26, 2020 at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,800th COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man from Clatsop County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on March 2 at Columbia Memorial Hospital. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon updates non-viable vaccine disclosure (1,2,3)

OHA’s non-viable vaccine table has been moved to the Tableau dashboard. You can find that link to the weekly tab here. OHA reports updates on vaccines not being used each Tuesday in our daily media release.

Vaccine type	Doses recalled	Non-viable, spoiled or expired	Grand total
Janssen COVID-19 vaccine		8,105	8,105
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine		45,796	45,796
Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine		14,204	14,204
Grand Total	0	68,105	68,105

1 Updated: 07/13/21 

2 Data source: ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS)

3 Data is preliminary and subject to change.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations  

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's webpage (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.