March 19, 2021
Today, we are excited to announce changes to Oregon’s vaccine eligibility schedule based on new information about increased allocation from the federal government.
As of now, about 58 percent of Oregonians age 65 and older have been vaccinated. We are on a trajectory to vaccinate more than seven out of 10 older adults by March 29, which is the next date that new groups become eligible statewide.
There is more good news: Some counties are ready to move on to the next eligibility groups. We don’t want appointment slots to go unfilled if areas have reached critical mass on currently eligible people. Next week, we will offer counties the opportunity to confirm that they are ready to move on to Phase 1B, Group 6 to ensure available vaccine doses are reaching Oregonians. In addition, next week we will begin vaccinations for migrant and seasonal farmworkers who are currently out in the fields working.
On April 19, more people become eligible for vaccination in Oregon. If we receive the promised 250,000 or more prime doses per week, we expect to have enough to begin to make vaccinations available to everyone 16 and older in Oregon by May 1.
We expect to see bottlenecks as each group becomes eligible. Again, not everyone will be able to get vaccinated right away. But if the doses come through, we’ll get through it. We will still ask for your patience.
Don’t forget to go to covidvaccine.oregon.gov, sign up for notifications in the Get Vaccinated Oregon tool, and make your plan to get vaccinated.
You can view the news conference here. Click on the graphic below to see all eligibility groups. For more details, including definitions of increased risk and frontline workers, see the full infographic.
 
A great way to learn if you’re eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine is by using the Get Vaccinated Oregon tool.
The best way to find the tool is to go to covidvaccine.oregon.gov and click on the “Get Vaccinated Oregon” button, or type getvaccinated.oregon.gov. When the site loads, you may see a # sign at the end of the address. That is the correct address.
Oregon Health Authority websites should end in “.gov.” Be wary of any website that claims to represent OHA but ends in “.com.”
When this pandemic began, one of the first messages we communicated to the public was an effort to address stigma and bias against the Asian community in Oregon. Clear back then, there were incidents of discrimination, and reports that businesses were losing customers over an unfounded belief they were in some way connected to the spread of the coronavirus.
This week’s shootings in Atlanta, while not yet definitively classified as a bias crime, remind us that bias, as well as broader anti-Asian/Pacific Islander bias and stereotyping, haven’t gone away. I want to acknowledge the pain and anger many of our Asian and Pacific Islander community members are feeling right now. A pandemic is hard enough, and brings enough challenges without events like this being added to the mix.
Here are some resources that you or someone you know may find helpful, not just now, but any time.
 
There are four new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon raising the state’s death toll to 2,357, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA also reported 381 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 160,994.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Today, OHA reported that 39,348 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 23,038 doses were administered on March 18 and 16,310 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on March 18.
Oregon has now administered a total of 710,862 first and second doses of Pfizer, 711,759 first and second doses of Moderna and 27,984 single doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
To date, 851,175 doses of Pfizer, 902,200 doses of Moderna and 54,700 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA's dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data, and Oregon’s dashboard has been updated today.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (6), Clackamas (42), Clatsop (4), Columbia (1), Coos (23), Crook (3), Curry (13), Deschutes (15), Douglas (12), Grant (4), Harney (1), Jackson (30), Jefferson (3), Josephine (31), Klamath (9), Lake (1), Lane (16), Lincoln (8), Linn (10), Malheur (3), Marion (27), Multnomah (54), Polk (4), Umatilla (15), Union (2), Wasco (1), Washington (39) and Yamhill (4).
Oregon’s 2,354th COVID-19 death is a 66-year-old man in Clatsop County who tested positive on Jan. 3 and died on Jan. 8. Location of death is being confirmed. He had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,355th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Feb. 28 and died on March 18 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,356th COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Feb. 24 and died on March 17 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 2,357th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man in Wasco County who tested positive on Feb. 11 and died on Feb. 11. Location of death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit our webpage (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.
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