PORTLAND, Ore — In October, Oregon announced it would team up with California, Washington and Nevada to independently review the safety and effectiveness of any COVID-19 vaccines before distribution.
So KGW set out to VERIFY: Is this review process still happening?
Yes, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), this review process is well underway.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released more than 100 pages of data from the Pfizer vaccine trials.
The western states’ Scientific Safety Review Workgroup is already analyzing this data, while an advisory committee conducts its review for the FDA to grant emergency use authorization.
Jonathan Modie, an OHA spokesperson, said the additional review will not be a setback for the distribution process.
“The workgroup is committed to proceeding in a timely fashion, so we don’t expect this process to cause any delays in the distribution of the vaccine in any way,” he said.
While most of the workgroup is composed of doctors, scientists and health experts from California, the other states in the pact each nominated two medical experts.
On Dec. 3, Gov. Kate Brown appointed Dr. Laura Byerly, the medical director of the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center. Byerly brings her experience advocating for policies that increase access to vulnerable and underserved communities.
Brown also appointed Dr. Louis Picker, the associate director of Oregon Health & Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, where he leads the vaccine program. Picker brings his experience developing an HIV vaccine.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and state epidemiologist, will also be working with the OHA and the governor’s office to support the workgroup.
“This workgroup will help ensure that the vaccines Oregonians receive are safe, effective and equitably available to everyone, especially the communities that have been disproportionately devastated by COVID-19,” Brown said in a statement.
On Dec. 15, Oregon is scheduled to receive its first 35,100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Assuming both the FDA and the western states approve the vaccine, these first shots will go to health care workers that are most likely to be exposed to the virus.
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