PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon health officials held a press conference Friday morning to provide an update on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speakers included state epidemiologist and health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger and Dr. Dawn Nolt, professor of pediatrics at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine.
The conference focused primarily on the planned rollout of COVID vaccines for young children ages 6 months to 5 years.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized pediatric doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines Friday morning, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention is expected to issue its own ruling Saturday.
If the CDC also gives a greenlight for pediatric doses, the only remaining step will be for the Western States Advisory Group to give the go-ahead, which Oregon Health Authority (OHA) officials previously said could happen on Saturday or Sunday, allowing pediatric vaccination to begin in Oregon next week.
OHA officials said Oregon is on track to receive enough about 86,800 pediatric doses in the coming weeks, which should be enough to meet the projected demand for the vaccine.
Health officials were hopeful parents would consider getting the vaccine for their young children.
"It's really amazing. In such a high-income country, as ourselves, that an infection of COVID-19 is now in the top 10 causes of death in children under five. And that to me is just, it's heartbreaking," said Nolt.
The agency is urging Oregon parents to use the state's online vaccine locator tool or contact their health care provider to see when doses will be available. Most parents will likely get vaccines for their children with their primary care physician, officials said.
State health officials also spoke about current COVID positive tests and cases, which were up slightly in comparison to last month. Dr. Sidelinger said health experts believe cases may be leveling off statewide. However, the numbers don't tell the whole story.
"We assume these numbers are a dramatic undercount of the actual number of cases because we know many people are using at-home tests and not reporting the result. We also know many others are not getting tested," said Sidelinger.
Additionally, he said data shows the number of hospitalizations have remained relatively steady and should not overwhelm hospital systems' ability to care for patients.
"That's not to say that hospitals and health care is not strained, as we are two and a half years into this pandemic," he said.
Watch the full press conference here: