PORTLAND, Ore. — The mass vaccination site at the Oregon Convention Center will be closed on Friday and Saturday, a Legacy Health spokesman announced, due to the winter storm in the Portland area.
Brian Terrett, director of communications for Legacy Health, said in a statement the vaccination site will be closed "to ensure the safety of patients and staff."
He said anyone who had a Friday or Saturday vaccine appointment at the convention center will be contacted to have it rescheduled.
A warming shelter that's also located at the Oregon Convention Center will remain open.
The drive-thru mass vaccination site at the Clark County Fairgrounds, which was scheduled to open Friday at noon, will also close because road conditions aren't safe for traveling to and from the site, the Washington State Department of Health reported Friday morning.
A health department spokesperson said they'll be doing make-up appointment at the fairgrounds on Tuesday, Feb. 16 from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The spokesperson also said they'll start administering second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Vaccine appointments at the Oregon Convention Center have been getting booked up rapidly. On Thursday morning, 4,500 appointments were booked within about three hours of becoming available.
Before a Winter Storm Warning was announced for the Portland metro area, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) had already been running into speedbumps with the vaccine rollout as of late.
About 168,000 Oregonians 80 and older became eligible for the vaccine on Monday, and many reported having trouble booking appointments through OHA's website.
On Wednesday, OHSU announced vaccine appointments have been canceled for Saturday, Feb. 13 and Sunday, Feb. 14 at vaccination sites at the Portland International Airport, Hillsboro Stadium and OHSU's Marquam Hill campus.
Patients scheduled for those days should have received an email, text message or phone call by now indicating that the clinics will be closed due to inclement weather, and that patients have been automatically rescheduled for next week as follows:
- PDX Red Economy parking lot – moving 2/13 to 2/18 and 2/14 to 2/19; same time and location
- OHSU patient clinic in the Multnomah Pavilion -- moving 2/14 to 2/21
- Hillsboro Stadium -- moving 2/13 to 2/20; same time and location
- Hillsboro Stadium -- moving 2/14 to 2/21; same time and location
For more information on vaccine appointments and eligibility, visit the OHSU website, convention center's website or OHA's website.
