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The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the state of Oregon today, a watershed moment marked with little fanfare.
Whereas other states announced the arrival of the plane delivering the vaccine (California) and/or administered vaccines in front of the press (New York, Ohio, California), Oregon officials didn't announce the vaccine's arrival for more than four hours.
Legacy Health's Holladay Park campus in Northeast Portland and Meridian Park hospital in Tualatin each received 975 doses at "around 7 am," an Oregon Health Authority press release declared shortly after 11 am.
OHA officials didn't answer a question from WW about when the first vaccine would be administered or whether it already had been. (The Oregonian reports the state is not alone in deciding to wait till later this week to administer the vaccine.)
Late Monday, Oregon Health & Science University officials announced plans to vaccinate health care workers beginning Wednesday, Dec. 16.
With the vaccine still scarce, OHSU will prioritize staff at "highest risk of exposure to the virus, specifically, those in units and departments with repeated and/or prolonged exposure to patients with known or potential COVID-19 infections" as well as staff who clean and stock the units, among others.
But they have also laid out the way they will decide which workers get it first: "We are further prioritizing health care workers who are physically present and necessary for patient care who are 55 or older, who self-identify as members of the BIPOC community and/or who have a self-disclosed medical risk factor, as defined by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]," says a news release from OHSU.
OHSU expects to receive vaccines Tuesday, with the first vaccines administered the following day.
"The recommendations from both the CDC and OHA are rooted in helping minimize the risks and impacts of COVID-19, and caring for our most vulnerable populations first. Protecting our health care workforce and ensuring critical health care capacity—beds and staffing—will be essential in the coming months as the vaccine is distributed," said OHSU president Danny Jacobs in a statement. "While we are excited to receive the first round of vaccines and the end may be in sight, we cannot let down our guard yet. We must continue to wear masks, physically distance, practice hand hygiene and follow the safety measures currently in place throughout the state as we wait for the vaccines to be distributed to all Oregonians."
By the end of the week, Oregon will have 35,100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday, and given an extra safety signoff by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup on Sunday. That group includes two doctors appointed by Gov. Kate Brown.
"Today, I can tell you that help is here," said Brown in a statement today. "Starting with the frontline health care workers who have been our first line of defense against COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, and the long-term care facility residents who are among the most vulnerable, each day, more and more Oregonians will be vaccinated against this disease."
Most will go to hospital staff, but 10,725 doses will go to nursing homes, with vaccinations beginning there next week.
Health officials cautioned that it will be months before the vaccine is available to the general public, and social distancing, mask wearing and other precautions will continue to be necessary long into 2021.