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Oregon reports 8 more COVID-19 deaths, 1,350 new cases

Oregon Health Authority

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — There are eight new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,598, the Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday.

OHA also reported 1,350 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 410,565.

Oregon makes progress toward goal of 1 million people boosted before February

Last week, Governor Kate Brown announced a goal of getting 1 million more Oregonians a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of January as the state prepares to confront a projected surge in cases from the Omicron variant.

When the challenge started Dec. 17, 949,749 people had received a booster dose. Since Dec. 17, 118,397 Oregonians have received a booster. As of Thursday, Oregon needs 881,603 people to get a booster to reach the goal and make our state safer from the Omicron variant. Find a booster here.

OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report

OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released Thursday, found that there were 5,388 cases of COVID-19 reported during the week of Dec, 12 to Dec. 18, Of those cases, 3,806, or 70.3 % were unvaccinated people and 1,582 or 29.4% were vaccine breakthrough cases.

The average age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 40. Sixteen breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 73 cases in people aged 12 to 17.

To date, there have been 50,882 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. The average age of all cases is 47. Breakthrough cases have been reported in all 36 counties.

Cases of COVID-19 are far more common in unvaccinated people, OHA said. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is currently four times higher than in vaccinated people.

To date, 4.4% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 1.3% have died. The average age of vaccinated people who died was 81.

"Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19," OHA said. " Oregonians are encouraged to vaccinated and, if eligible to get a booster shot.

The latest breakthrough report can be found here.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 339, which is three fewer than Wednesday. There are 98 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is 11 more than Wednesday.

There are 67 available adult ICU beds out of 678 total (10% availability) and 306 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,133 (7% availability).

12/23/2021 Available Beds (and Percentage of Staffed Beds Available)
 StatewideRegion 1Region 2Region 3Region 5Region 6Region 7Region 9
Adult ICU beds available67(10%)29(8%)4(5%)12(13%)7(12%)1(10%)5(12%)9(35%)
Adult non-ICU beds available306(7%)49(2%)25(4%)70(12%)32(7%)18(37%)48(12%)64(54%)

Statewide regions are as follows:

Region 1: Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook and Washington

Region 2: Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion Polk and Yamhill

Region 3: Coos, Curry and Douglas

Region 5: Jackson and Josephine

Region 6: Hood River, Gilliam, Sherman and Wasco

Region 7: Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler

Region 9: Baker, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa

St. Charles Bend reported 22 COVID-19 patients early Thursday, two of whom were in the ICU, both on ventilators. Neither of the ICU patients were fully vaccinated, the hospital reported, while none of the 22 patients were fully vaccinated.

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.

Note: Please do not visit an emergency department for COVID-19 testing, unless you require emergency care for your symptoms.

Emergency departments in Oregon are under significant strain. You can find a test here. If you have a medical condition that doesn’t require emergency care, contact your provider. An urgent care center may also help you get the care you need and will save emergency departments from added strain.

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

Vaccinations in Oregon

OHA reported Thursday that 30,693 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Wednesday. Of that total, 2,008 were initial doses, 1,427 were second doses and 10,850 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 15,810 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Wednesday.

The seven-day running average is now 19,391 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered 3,755,037 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 156,124 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,466,715 doses of Moderna and 254,225 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of Thursday, 3,032,937 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,755,967 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.

These data are preliminary and subject to change.

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

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (3), Benton (24), Clackamas (114), Clatsop (9), Columbia (19), Coos (17), Crook (5), Curry (3), Deschutes (106), Douglas (27), Gilliam (1), Harney (1), Hood River (6), Jackson (104), Jefferson (5), Josephine (35), Klamath (10), Lake (1), Lane (76), Lincoln (2), Linn (43), Malheur (7), Marion (109), Morrow (7), Multnomah (345), Polk (28), Sherman (1), Tillamook (6), Umatilla (25), Union (7), Wallowa (3), Wasco (3), Washington (164) and Yamhill (34).

Oregon’s 5,591st COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old man from Union County who tested positive Oct. 10 and died Oct. 15; location of death is being confirmed. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,592nd COVID-19 related death is an 82-year-old woman from Polk County who tested positive Jan. 23 and died April 6 at her residence. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,593rd COVID-19 related death is an 85-year-old man from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 17 and died Dec. 22 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,594th COVID-19 related death is a 93-year-old woman from Clackamas County who died April 16 at her residence. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,595th COVID-19 related death is a 90-year-old man from Benton County who tested positive Dec. 10 and died Dec. 21 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,596th COVID-19 related death is an 80-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Dec. 2 and died Dec. 17 at her residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,597th COVID-19 related death is an 80-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 26 and died Dec. 11 at her residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,598th COVID-19 related death is a 61-year-old woman from Union County who tested positive Dec. 17 and died Dec. 21 at Grande Ronde Hospital. She had underlying conditions.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations  

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

Article Topic Follows: Coronavirus

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