By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Lincoln County and its partners will vaccinate an estimated 600 people against COVID-19 during a mass clinic Friday at the county fairgrounds in Newport, and then pause further clinics for two weeks because its supply of vaccines has been cut off by the state.
Vaccines to Lincoln County Public and Samaritan Health Systems and at least eight other Oregon counties were diverted Wednesday by Gov. Kate Brown to supply the three-county Portland area with 17,000 doses so it can catch up with the state’s schedule and inoculate health care workers and educators there.
Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties had fallen behind most other counties in vaccinating the so-called 1A group – health care workers, first responders and now educators.
Lincoln County first heard of the diversion late Tuesday. On Thursday it sent out a news release announcing the pause. But county commissioners and health partners were also drafting a letter to Brown and the Oregon Health Authority objecting to being penalized for having organized clinics and vaccinated – after Friday — more than 5,000 people.
In its news release, Lincoln County Public Health took a softer tone, saying that while two weeks without vaccines “slows down our rate of vaccination, it will allow an equitable distribution of vaccine across the state. During this lull, county officials will be working to set up additional vaccination sites and plan for targeted distribution of vaccines to those who cannot attend a vaccination clinic. This delay will not affect booster (second dose) appointments.”
Lincoln County heath officials said they expect to finish the 1A group Friday and had planned to move on to vaccinating residents age 75 and older next week.
But they said Thursday evening, “The efficient collaboration of our local agencies has put Lincoln County ahead of the state’s vaccination schedule. Oregon has stated ages 80 and over will not begin until Feb. 8 and ages 75 and older beginning Feb. 16.”
With the state diverting vaccines to the Portland area, health officials said that “means that our county will see little to no additional vaccine being distributed over the next two weeks.”
Local health partners had already decided to combine the 85- and 75-year-old groups into one category beginning next week, rather than follow the state’s guidelines to vaccinate them separately.
On Thursday, the county said people already on any waiting list will be contacted first when the next batches of vaccine arrive. Residents who want a vaccine but are not on a waiting list, or who missed their chance to be vaccinated during Phase 1A, were encouraged to put their information in the county’s new registration portal.
People can also contact the county’s call center at 541-265-0621 or email LincolnCoCallCenter@co.lincoln.or.us to get help registering. The call center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Portland area lags behind
The Portland area’s vaccination woes were more pronounced than other parts of the state.
Portland-area providers had yet to reach enough people in phase 1A even as other counties opened vaccinations to seniors 75 and older weeks ahead of the statewide schedule.
Brown’s diversion of vaccines came one day after health officers in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties said tens of thousands of health care workers in the Portland area would wait weeks or months to receive a COVID-19 vaccine because the region was short of supplies.
The health care officials there called the failure to finish vaccinating health care workers in the Portland area a “very dark, low day.”
Health officials who called Tuesday’s news conference effectively pressured Brown and the Oregon Health Authority to deliver more doses to the region. They warned that health care workers waiting since December to schedule vaccine appointments would likely get leapfrogged by educators, who became eligible statewide Monday. They said the metro area had asked for more doses but hadn’t heard a response yet.
Officials said a survey launched Jan. 12 to help vaccinate health care workers not affiliated with major medical organizations was effectively a failure. Some 60,000 people signed up expressing interest in obtaining a vaccine, but just 11,000 were able to schedule an appointment.
They scrapped the survey altogether in favor of a new a one-stop shop website where educators and remaining Phase 1A workers can schedule appointments.
“We want to thank Gov. Brown and the Oregon Health Authority for hearing our concerns and responding to the unique challenges of vaccinating the very large eligible groups in the state’s healthcare and education hubs in and around Portland,” Deborah Kafoury, Multnomah County’s chair, said in a statement. “We know vaccines are in short supply, and we need to work together to prevent severe illness and death.”
To read The Oregonian’s latest story on the vaccine diversion, go here.
Supply the issue everywhere
Getting enough vaccine doses has also been an issue in Lincoln County, where organizers say they have the staff and volunteers to handle a lot more people.
The Friday clinic was scheduled to clear up a backlog of 500-600 people on a waiting list from three days of clinics last week.
More than 1,400 people got their first dose of the Moderna vaccine during those clinics last week. PacWest Ambulance personnel also went to two long-term care facilities in Lincoln City and Sea Aire in Yachats to inoculate more than 300 residents and staff.
Susan Trachsel, spokeswoman for Lincoln County Public Health, said the county is also looking for appropriate places to hold vaccination clinics in south Lincoln County and in Lincoln City.
“As soon as we get a more steady supply we need to expand the clinics,” she said. “But it’s hard to do if you don’t know what’s coming week to week.”
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Biden administration is expected to increase vaccine supplies by 16 percent next week. The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses, the newspaper said. The vaccine is distributed on a population basis among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities.
During a county commission meeting Monday, Commissioner Kaety Jacobson asked deputy public health director Florence Pourtal if – even after two weeks – she had noticed any different in approach to vaccine rollout between the Trump and Biden administrations.
“First of all, there is a plan,” Pourtal said.
On the second day of the Biden Administration, Pourtal said state and county health officials received an outline of vaccine distribution principles and goals “based on data, science and public health practices.”
Lincoln County health officials say they have the plan, the partners and enough volunteers to stage mass clinics and reach into all the rural areas of the county if it could just get enough vaccines, an issue that has plagued providers nationwide.
“We’re just trying to ramp up,” Trachsel told YachatsNews. “We just need to get the vaccines.
Pourtal said LCPH will keep the clinic at the county fairgrounds set up so it can be used on short notice. It is trying to find similar places around Waldport and Lincoln City where everything can stay set up when not in use.
“The more vaccines we receive, the more clinics we can do everywhere …” she said.
The county has hired two people on temporary contracts to help – someone to oversee the vaccination clinics and another person to coordinate the many volunteers who are stepping up to help. The county is also developing plans to reach out to homebound residents to visit them for vaccinations.
“We have lots of people volunteering,” Trachsel said.