How to get a COVID vaccination in Oregon
As of March 1, everyone in Phase 1A and groups 1-5 of Phase 1B is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon. That includes:
- Health care workers and first responders
- Long-term care residents
- K-12 educators and school staff
- Childcare providers
- People 65 and older
The sign-up process for COVID-19 vaccination in the Portland metro area changed again on March 1. Rather than hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to find thousands of appointments, eligible people will be notified when a dose is available for them. The state will use the information people have submitted at the state's Get Vaccinated Oregon tool as an invitation system. The names of eligible people in the metro area will be gleaned from the Get Vaccinated Oregon database and their information will be sent to the state's partners at the Oregon Convention Center, one of Oregon's mass vaccination sites.
Clark County will receive major vaccine supply increase
Less than a week after the Clark County health officer voiced frustration about the lack of COVID-19 vaccine doses compared to similarly sized counties in Washington, Clark County said Monday that many more doses are on the way this week.
Clark County has received an average of 4,175 first doses of the vaccine from the Washington State Department of Health through 11 weeks. On Monday the county said it will receive 14,140 first doses this week.
2,400 COVID vaccine appointments gone in 10 minutes for OHSU drive-thru site
Gov. Kate Brown made all Oregonians 65-69 years old eligible for the vaccine starting March 1. They join more than 200,000 seniors in the greater Portland area aged 70 and older who are eligible and still trying to secure their first COVID vaccine shots.
The OHSU COVID 19 website posted 2,400 appointments for their Portland International Airport drive-thru clinic Monday morning at 9 a.m. They were available for anyone who was eligible. All appointments were snapped up in 10 minutes.
By the numbers: Vaccinations, cases and deaths in Oregon
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) expects Oregon to receive 34,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. The vaccine received authorization for emergency use by the federal government, making it the third available for use in the U.S. and the first single-dose vaccine.
OHA said as of Monday, 986,816 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given in Oregon. 1,241,415 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
The number of known COVID-19 cases in Oregon during the pandemic is now up to 155,787. The state’s pandemic death toll is now 2,212 people.
Oregon Convention Center vaccination site turns low-tech to schedule senior appointments after website is overwhelmed
On Monday, March 1, operators at the call center for the Oregon Convention Center mass vaccination site will begin calling 1,900 people in the greater Portland area who qualify for COVID-19 vaccination shots. It’s a major change from the mass scramble of past weeks that culminated last Thursday with 400,000 people trying to access the mass vaccination scheduling site. They were trying to get just 500 appointments and caused chaos within the site.
Instead, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has already sent the site coordinators the list of names of those who qualify. The state is requiring people to register on the site getvaccinated.oregon.gov.
VERIFY: Current evidence suggests it's OK to breastfeed after COVID-19 vaccine
With both COVID-19 and the vaccines to fight it being so new, there’s still a lot of research being conducted to study effects and get data. There’s some confusion because of that. One common question: Should women get vaccinated for COVID-19 while they're breastfeeding or are about to start breastfeeding an infant?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says on its advisory last updated February 4 “there is no need to avoid initiation or discontinue breastfeeding in patients who receive a COVID-19 vaccine” and adds “theoretical concerns regarding the safety of vaccinating lactating individuals do not outweigh the potential benefits of receiving the vaccine.”
VERIFY: Are fully vaccinated people still getting COVID-19?
There are rare cases in which fully vaccinated people are still getting COVID-19. In fact, that’s expected because no vaccine is perfect. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 95% effective, which means that there will be some people who might end up getting sick even after they receive the vaccination.
Based on the Oregon Health Authority’s statistics, less than 0.01% of fully vaccinated Oregonians have later been sick with COVID-19.
