COVID vaccinations in Oregon off to a very slow start

(JANUARY 4, 2021) After months and months of development and testing, two COVID-19 vaccines are now approved by the U.S. government. But vaccination is moving slower than expected. Oregon, for example, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

According to a Dec. 29 report from Bloomberg, "The U.S. is vaccinating an average of only 200,000 people a day against Covid-19, and many states have used just a small percentage of the shipments sent to them this month."

As of December 28, says Bloomberg, Oregon had used only 15.3% of its supply. An update from the state of Oregon says that by December 31, the state had given an initial dose of the vaccine to 38,696 people.

Tim Heider works for the Oregon Health Authority. He says things are improving.

"Initial startup of vaccine distribution took some time, but now things are running smoothly and vaccine provider sites around the state are vaccinating more people per hour," says Heider, according to Willamette Week newspaper.

"We do have enough vaccine this month [December] to vaccinate 100,000 people, although we don't anticipate actually vaccinating that number of people in the next couple days; that probably will take a couple more weeks. As we go forward we will have more outlets for people to get the vaccine, like local public health departments and eventually pharmacies. So we expect that the velocity of vaccination will increase."

The delay has been a combination of factors. Initial supplies are limited. Both vaccines require two doses. Both vaccines require very cold transportation and storage. In addition, medical staff must be available and trained. Many hospitals, especially smaller ones in rural areas of the state, struggle to meet these requirements. On top of all that, both givers and receivers must continue to maintain social distancing, which limits capacity. This also presents logistical issues, such as areas to wait that can accommodate large numbers of people before and after vaccination.