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Oregon Health & Science University has released shocking new figures showing COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state could hit 3,000 by February.
That’s the result of the new Omicron variant’s potential to spread rapidly and would far exceed the highs the state experienced during the Delta wave this fall.
Just this week, the state announced the first cases of the Omicron variant in Oregon.
New data shows that the variant is spreading rapidly in places ranging from Washington to Denmark, inspiring Peter Graven of OHSU, whose projections have served as a warning to state officials before, to update his numbers. So far, the data on the variant suggests infections have been less severe. But with a more contagious variant and one that appears to evade immunity, potentially both from infection and from vaccines, cases and then hospitalizations could rise.
In response, the state is focusing on increasing the availability of boosters.
“The science and data are clear: Vaccinations are the strongest line of defense we have against COVID-19—and the preliminary research shows boosters provide a critical layer of protection against the Omicron variant,” said Gov. Kate Brown. “Today I am calling on 1 million Oregonians to step up and get their booster dose by the end of January.”
But doubling the number of boosters being administered per day will only decrease the projections for peak hospitalization to over 2,500.
For nearly three months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended boosters for those 65 and older, among others. And yet the majority of residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities—the most vulnerable to COVID—do not have a booster. As of Nov. 22, 41.6% of long-term care residents had a booster. The Oregon Health Authority’s plan calls for sending “strike teams” to nursing homes.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tobias Read today went further, calling for the National Guard to be deployed to long-term care facilities to help administer boosters.
He also offered a goal beyond keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed. “We need a plan to protect our most vulnerable, keep schools open, and small businesses operating amid the rise of the Omicron variant,” Read said in a statement.
Read also urged sending home COVID tests to vulnerable populations through the Oregon Health Plan as well as instituting vaccine mandates in schools as part of keeping them open.
That’s far more detail and action than the governor announced today.
When asked by reporters, Brown all but ruled out closing schools but did not specify what other measures she would consider to bring case counts down. State officials did not take politically unpopular steps like asking Oregonians to cancel holiday parties. But they did ask people to gather only in smaller groups.
The Delta wave affected mainly the unvaccinated. And while health experts expect that vaccines will help prevent the most severe outcomes and death, there is evidence that Omicron evades prior immunity, meaning those who have been sick and who have been vaccinated may still get COVID-19 during this wave. Public health officials are advising that a booster may help further decrease the risk.
In addition to expanding the availability of boosters, OHA announced plans to support hospitals, including extending contracts to bring in out-of-state nurses and making treatments more available by setting up a clinic in the Portland metro area to administer monoclonal antibodies “seven days a week, 11 hours a day, and have the capacity to treat 350 people.”