PORTLAND, Ore. — Thirty-thousand of Oregon’s front-line health workers could be vaccinated in late December, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA).
Oregon medical workers treating patients with COVID-19 will be the first in line to receive the first dose of the vaccine in December, and the second dose in January. According to Gov. Kate Brown, there are roughly 300,000 of these health workers in Oregon.
Emergency federal approval of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is expected on Dec. 10. Moderna is also seeking approval for its separately developed vaccine.
Patrick Allen, OHA director, said that Oregon is working with Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's effort to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine, to figure out the specifics of this initial vaccine distribution.
“What I do know is that the amount of vaccine that will come out initially will not be as much as we’d like it to be, but that it appears that things are poised for that number to ramp up fairly rapidly, particularly if there are multiple vaccines available to distribute,” Allen said in today's press conference.
According to Oregon’s preliminary vaccine plan, other health and essential workers, the elderly and those living in long-term care facilities will be next in line to receive the vaccine.
Then, Oregon will vaccinate what they have deemed “critical populations” (such as people who have underlying medical conditions, college students, or people from racial and ethnic minoritized groups), before offering the vaccine to the general population.
“We’re a long way off from getting the amount of vaccines that we need to vaccinate the entire population,” Gov. Brown said in the press briefing. “The good news is there is some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Delia Hernandez, communications officer for the OHA, said that a finalized vaccine distribution plan will be released in mid-to-late December.