Oregon lays out reason for new detailed vaccination plan

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - The state of Oregon has laid out the plan for how vaccines will be distributed over the next few months.

Thursday both Oregon Governor Kate Brown and OHA Director Patrick Allen said their new timeline in getting Oregonians vaccinated will depend on the supply from the federal government. Both say they are anticipating an increase and expect to open up a vaccine to anyone who wants one by this summer.

Over the last week Oregon has averaged over 20,000 thousand doses administered a day. Over a half million Oregonians have received at least their first dose, roughly 14-percent of the state’s population.

Allen said Friday that if Oregon’s weekly prime doses increases to 200,000 a week starting in March, Oregon would have enough first doses to vaccinate 70 percent of adults by the end of April, all adults by the end of May 2021.

“These projections depend entirely on our supply. The good news is that not only can we achieve the timelines the Governor announced, we may be able to move them forward. But until we see these doses show up in the ordering system, we’re going to continue to take a conservative approach,” Allen said.

The OHA also said Friday, it surveyed vaccine sites and learned that the sites can administer more than three times the amount of doses they are currently using, if more supply is available.

The issue in the roll out of seniors has been limited supply, which in turn means limited appointments. What will help boost the numbers, the state says is expanded distribution points and more locations at retail pharmacy, outpatient clinics and other hospital sites.

“These sites will help loosen the bottlenecks people are currently experiencing as the crushing wave of demand swamps the limited sites we have available to offer restricted supplies of vaccines,” Allen said.

He adds by the end of March the state will not only see a dramatic expansion in supply, but the types of places people can go to get a vaccine.