PORTLAND, Ore — Is Oregon holding back half of the COVID-19 vaccine doses it receives to make sure people who got a first dose will get a second? The answer is surprisingly difficult to find.
It certainly looks like it based on the numbers. The Oregon Health Authority reported that, as of Tuesday, 600,875 doses were sent to various parts of the state and 340,369 were used. That leaves 260,506.
On Jan. 22, Dave Baden who is coordinating the state’s unified response to the coronavirus, said during a Zoom news conference:
“Under our approach we expect all our vaccinators are reserving second doses for people who received their prime shot. Keep that in mind when you hear people say there are thousands of doses sitting on shelves in Oregon. We could provide more doses to more people in these populations if we allocated all of our 100,000 total doses each week in that way. But we don’t think that’s responsible until we get further direction from the CDC and the manufacturers to spend doses in that way."
Many states are setting aside second doses. For some, that just makes good sense ethically and practically.
“If we’re going to follow the science, it makes sense to hold some of the vaccine back to ensure that other people have the second dose,” said Courtney Campbell, a professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University. He previously was at The Hastings Center, a think tank for medical ethics.
Many public health directors support the strategy as well, including Clackamas County health officer Dr. Sarah Present.
"So, we are sticking to a priority of ensuring everyone who starts the vaccine series is able to finish the vaccine series,” she said when asked about the wisdom of holding back the second shot.
But the practice also means there are hundreds of thousands of fewer shots available for new people. That's occurring as seniors and even some medical workers in Group 1a are forced to get in line behind teachers.
Some, including retired biochemistry professor Ken Blumenthal, think it’s a terrible idea to hold back those doses.
“So, why hold them back is what I come to," Blumenthal said. "Because honestly, the vaccine sitting in the freezer doesn’t do anybody any good. Right? If you want to protect people, you need to get it into them. If you want to protect society, you got to cut down on the number of viruses."
He contacted KGW, frustrated over the state's plans. Blumenthal points out that the federal government is ramping up shipments to states including Oregon by 16% each week for the next three weeks.
Blumenthal and others believe the supply will continue to grow after that.
“Obviously I have a vested interest in this," he said. "I’m 75 years old and I would be eligible fairly soon although right now I have no idea because Oregon has not done a good job of making this transparent at all."
And, when asking how many doses are being set aside each day at the Oregon Convention Center’s mass vaccination effort KGW was told none.
Which led to a follow up question to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to ask if the state’s policy outlined by Baden is still in effect.
“No doses are being held back," wrote a spokeswoman with OHA. "If this is about second doses—we are allocating enough second doses to cover all first doses given out to vaccine providers currently. Second doses ship three weeks after first doses for Pfizer and ship four weeks after first doses for Moderna."
And that is why it is surprisingly difficult to answer the simple question of whether the Oregon Health Authority is requiring anyone to hold back vaccine doses.