Oregon Has a Plan to Ramp Up COVID-19 Vaccination
Oregon’s pace of COVID-19 vaccinations is on par with other states, with more than 1.2 percent of the population having been vaccinated as of Monday. Director Allen and Dr. Hargunani announced that this week OHA will take the following steps:
- Speed Phase 1A prioritization by simplifying the staging and sequencing among groups.
- Speed the number of doses delivered to nursing home staff and residents by activating Part B of federal pharmacy partnerships. OHA anticipates this change will speed vaccinations to approximately 80,000 staff and residents.
- Speed the number of doses delivered to health care workers and other Phase 1A groups by giving them the option to get vaccinated at retail pharmacies.
- Make more doses available to Phase 1A workers by leveraging every available public health capability at our disposal.
- Speed the number of doses delivered to unaffiliated health care workers, nursing home staff and others by supporting innovative partnerships, such as a collaboration between OHSU and labor union SEIU to launch a pilot vaccination effort.
If you need to get a COVID-19 test, you have some options.
- If you have insurance, contact your health care provider or use the map on OHA’s testing webpage to find a clinic near you. Most insurance providers cover the costs of COVID-19 testing and associated care.
- If you need a free community testing event, you can find a list of upcoming events on the Do I Need a COVID-19 Test website. Sixteen free community testing events have been added for January, and more are planned. You’ll need to register and create a new user account that will ask for contact information. This will let you schedule an appointment for your selected event and get your test results. Because of the high demand for COVID-19 tests, an appointment and voucher are required for testing, one person per appointment. If there are no appointments available, please select another location and date. Only those with appointments are guaranteed a test.
Travel Advisories, Self-Quarantine Recommendations Still in Effect
We know that many people traveled during the holidays. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened more than 1.3 million travelers on Jan. 3, marking the highest checkpoint volume in the U.S. since the pandemic began.
Don’t forget that the travel advisory issued by Oregon Governor Kate Brown remains in effect. To slow the spread of COVID-19, we should continue to avoid non-essential out-of-state travel, which is classified as “travel that is for purposes of tourism, recreation or any other purpose that is non-essential.” Oregon’s travel advisory does not apply to people who cross state borders for “essential travel,” which includes travel for work, study, critical infrastructure support, economic services, supply chains, health, immediate medical care and safety and security.
If you’re arriving in Oregon from other states or countries for non-essential travel, you should self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival and limit interactions to the people you live with. For more information, read the full travel advisory here.
