By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Lincoln County will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines beginning Monday to many adults with underlying health conditions and seafood processing workers as part of an accelerated schedule authorized Friday by the state.
The changes come a week early for the county after Gov. Kate Brown said counties which had vaccinated a majority of residents age 65 and over could move on to the next eligible group. Lincoln County was one of 13 counties authorized to vaccinate the newest group a week early. This new group covers:
- People 45-64 years of age with underlying health conditions;
- Migrant, seasonal farm workers, seafood and agricultural workers, and food processing workers;
- People living in low-income senior housing, senior congregate and independent living;
- The homeless, and people still displaced by September’s wildfires;
- Wildland firefighters, and
- Pregnant women 16 and older.
The Lincoln County Health Department said it will send out vaccine appointment availability notices to people in this category on Monday. It urged people age 65 and older who still have not been vaccinated to check clinic or pharmacy availability before Monday.
The county and its medical partners are getting a gradually increasing supply of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, allowing it to add capacity at established clinic sites and open a new clinic Thursday afternoon in Waldport.
“We’re getting more vaccines that anticipated,” said Susan Trachsel, public health spokeswoman. “On Friday, there were still 750 openings at clinics.”
On Monday, the county expanded first-dose openings Tuesday and Wednesday in Newport and added a clinic Saturday, April 3 in Waldport. It also plans an April 3 clinic in Otis to vaccinate victims of last September’s wildfires who still need shots.
The county, Samaritan Health Services, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz, and two pharmacies have 2,812 doses available starting Monday. And, there is a hint from the Oregon Health Authority that more vaccines are on the way to counties and providers that have the staff and volunteers to administer more shots.
The newest county-organized clinic is noon to 7 p.m. at the Waldport Community Center, where 250 doses will be available. It will be staffed by PacWest Ambulance.
Trachsel said the county’s waitlist for residents 65 and older was shrinking quickly as its health partners administered vaccines and people also found other sources, such as local and Willamette Valley pharmacies, and clinics elsewhere.
Some 14,993 Lincoln County residents have received their first (8,253) or second (6,740) vaccine doses — or 53.5 percent of the 28,000 adults the county expects to vaccine. That is the third highest rate of any county in Oregon.
Lincoln County Public Health on Friday encouraged members of the newest eligible group to sign up on its waitlist and a new state notice system called Get Vaccinated Oregon that will send people emails or cell phone texts when openings are available at clinics and pharmacies outside of Lincoln County.
The state’s site is separate from the county waitlist, “but it is much easier to update your account with Get Vaccinated Oregon,” the county said in a news release Friday. “Lincoln County may go to using this system exclusively by May 1.”
Other eligibility timelines are: April 19, frontline workers as defined by the federal government, multigenerational household members, and, adults 16-44 with underlying health conditions. On May 1, all Oregonians 16 and older become eligible.
State adjusts to federal directive
The state announced the eligibility changes Friday as some counties like Lincoln raced ahead to vaccinate eligible residents.
As late as January, state officials were forecasting that it would take into autumn or beyond to offer vaccination to the 3.2 million eligible adults. At a news conference Friday, Gov. Kate Brown said the timeline is now much shorter.
“This doesn’t mean that every Oregonian will be able to get a shot right away,” Brown said. “We expect to have enough doses for every Oregonian who wants a vaccine to have the opportunity for at least a first dose by the end of May.”
Brown ordered a compression of the state’s priority list after President Joe Biden directed states to remove all limits on vaccine eligibility by May 1 — two months earlier than Oregon had planned.
Counties wanting to move to the next eligible group had to send a written statement to OHA attesting they have “largely” vaccinated residents over 65 and can handle moving on to the next group, said director Pat Allen. Counties who submitted the statements did not need to wait for OHA response or approval.
Statewide, Allen said 58 percent of those 65 and over are now vaccinated.
Vaccine providers have been told to use an honor system for determining who should get the shots. OHA has published a list of medical conditions that meet the standard. Those seeking the vaccination will not be asked to provide medical records or a doctor’s note. They will be asked to attest that they meet the guidelines.
All other Oregonians will now become eligible on May 1.
Possible school changes soon
In a move advocated by many school districts in Oregon, the required about of social distancing space between younger students could be cut in half in the near future.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state’s public health officer, said a new Centers for Disease Control report indicated that 3 feet is sufficient to suppress infection spread among children in lower grades.
For middle schools, Sidelinger said the 3-foot minimum appears to be possible in counties where there are 100 infections or less per 100,000 people. However, the CDC continues to recommend 6 feet of separation for students in high schools.
- Gary Warner of the Oregon Capital Bureau contributed to this report