COVID-19 vaccines are in Oregon and more are on the way. What you need to know: Q&A
Updated Dec 19, 2020;
Posted Dec 18, 2020
Jessica Daniels, immunization program coordinator for Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, first-bumps Kelley Callais after Callais administered her COVID-19 vaccination shot on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian)Dave Killen
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The arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccines in Oregon this week offers good reason to celebrate.
It appears this is the very beginning of the end of the pandemic. But there’s still so much hard work left to be done on the long road ahead.
There will be public education campaigns meant to address the worries of Oregonians reluctant to get vaccinated. There are scientific questions about how long immunity after vaccinations will last. And there are important decisions to be made about who will be vaccinated after healthcare workers and long-term care residents.
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While Idaho health care workers received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine this week, hospitals remain strapped with patients forcing a possible move to crisis standards of care. And the health district governing Ada, Elmore, Boise and Valley Counties rejected a mask mandate as politics continues to play a big role in public health decisions.
Joining the Idaho Matters Doctor Roundtable to talk about these topics and answer your questions:
Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke s Health System and a current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force
Dr. Kenny Bramwell, System Medical Director at St. Luke’s Children’s, specializing in emergency medicine and pediatric emergency medicine
Data backlog obscures true nature of Boise area s COVID-19 outbreak; 29 new deaths reported Chadd Cripe and Rachel Roberts, The Idaho Statesman
Dec. 17 The data dashboard for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare shows Ada County s COVID-19 incidence rate as one of the best in the state.
The daily number of new cases reported shows a raging outbreak.
The problem is that Central District Health has been inundated with so many cases that it s nearly two weeks and more than 2,500 case reports behind in its data tracking.
That means many of the 325 new confirmed cases reported Wednesday in Ada County were actually from early December. They are added to IDHW s data on the day they were originally reported to public health, so they don t hit the chart showing the county s cases per day per 100,000 people over the last seven days.
ONTARIO
The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed in eastern Oregon arrived in Ontario Tuesday morning and more are expected throughout the week and over the course of the next several weeks. They will be stored at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Ontario. Oregon Health Authority reported that the hospital was one of five locations throughout the state to receive 975-dose packages of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Monday and Tuesday.
âBecause the vaccine requires the ultra-cold storage, distribution to rural communities will be challenging, but not impossible, said Dr. Steven Nemerson, chief clinical officer for Saint Alphonsus Health System. âThe Pfizer vaccine can be safely transported in dry ice, and then stored in regular freezers or refrigeration for up to 5 days.â
Health and Welfare adds COVID-19 vaccine tracker; Idaho reports more than 1,800 new cases
and last updated 2020-12-15 21:49:59-05
The public can now keep track of how many COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Idaho using the tracker posted on the Idaho Department of Health and Welfareâs website.
On Monday, health care workers at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg were the first Idahoans to receive the new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. As of Tuesday, 38 vaccine doses had been administered statewide, according to IDHW.
Hospitals throughout Idaho are expecting to receive their first vaccine shipments this week. These shipments are designated for hospital staff and outpatient clinic staff who provide care for COVID-19 patients, according to Health and Welfare.