Fairgrounds COVID-19 vaccine clinic gives last shots; Deschutes County still running others

(Update: Adding video, comment from county health official, vaccine recipient)

“I keep hoping I will work myself out of a job someday.”

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- While the drive-thru vaccine clinic at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds gave its last shots Tuesday, Deschutes County Health Services will continue holding clinics around the county each week.

“I keep hoping I will work myself out of a job someday," Deschutes County Health Services COVID-19 Response Coordinator Emily Freeland told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday,

That’s probably a good goal. But until then, she’s still urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

 “We don’t know what comes next, and having that vaccination surely provides a level of protection,” Freeland said.

She said vaccination numbers have fallen to the point where it was time to shut the drive-thru clinic down.

"The vaccination numbers have decreased to a point where we feel there is adequate vaccine access around the county," Freeland said.

According to state data, vaccinations in Deschutes County peaked a second time at the end of November, around the start of the Omicron surge. 

At that point, the county was giving around 2,000 first, second and booster shots a day. But we’re at a different point now, Freeland said.

 “Our numbers are decreasing; our hospitalizations are decreasing,” she said. “Which is great news.”

Now, with the state’s mask mandate set to end Friday night, they’re doing about 100 vaccinations a day, all for different reasons, Freeland said.

Daniel Leyes, who got his booster shot Tuesday, said, "Since I am going overseas, they require it to come in to other countries, I am getting boosted. I just put it off. I shouldn't have, but I did."

The county runs four clinics once a week in Bend, La Pine and Sisters and is adding fifth one in Redmond due to the closure of the fairgrounds clinic.

"We have this distributive model, where everybody can reach out to different places to get a vaccine, and there are plenty of appointments available in Deschutes County," Freeland said. 

You can find a full schedule of county vaccine clinics here.