April 13, 2021
Out of an abundance of caution, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has asked all of the state’s vaccine providers to immediately pause administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in accordance with the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this morning.
Six women ages 18 to 48 experienced a rare and severe blood clot known as Cerebral Venous Sinus Thombosis within one to three weeks of getting a Johnson & Johnson vaccination.
This appears to be extremely rare, with just six cases reported out of 6.8 million Johnson & Johnson vaccinations administered. This is the type of rare event that the national Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) can identify so that they can be investigated further.
If you’ve received a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, you should know that the symptoms in all these cases appeared within six to 13 days. OHA recommends that anyone who has already been vaccinated should keep an eye out for symptoms 21 days after vaccination.
Symptoms to look for include severe headache, leg pain, shortness of breath and abdominal pain. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should see their healthcare provider or seek emergency care.
We continue to believe the existing COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and urge everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.
See the FAQ on the Johnson & Johnson vaccination pause for more information, or you can watch a video in Spanish or English.
A lot of people camp out and live along a bike path in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland. The area is informally known as “The Cut”. In March, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) worked closely with grassroots activists and community organizations to test 49 people living there for COVID-19.
It was an event that required careful planning to establish trust. “This is a population where we need to be especially mindful,” says Mehera Christian, regional testing coordinator at OHA. These are individuals with complex physical and mental health issues. There is a lot of fear and mistrust. We work with community partners who know and serve the community to help connect with sensitivity and compassion.”
Every Saturday, grassroots activists and organizations go to a central location along the path with services and supplies. People who live there go to get food, blankets, socks, to recycle their bottles and cans to get money back.
A couple weeks ahead of the testing event OHA staff went out with trusted community partners to introduce themselves and spread the word about the upcoming testing event.
“We were able to find out what some of their concerns were before the day of testing. They heard about the event and could ask questions, and then they knew some of our faces when we came back,” says Christian.
One key partner was Portland People’s Outreach Project or PPOP. The all-volunteer organization has been doing emergency and outreach directly along The Cut for two years. To reduce risk, they provide clean syringes and Naloxone (Narcan) and other supplies directly to users.
That part of town, says PPOP volunteer, Sam Junge is especially short on low-barrier health services. The testing event, he says, was a start to establishing trust and affirms the need for health services in this area going forward. And, he adds,” it’s a testament to the importance of serving and investing in people who use drugs.”
OHA staff brought a mobile lab to The Cut and tested 49 people in two hours using rapid results tests.
“We were set up for motel referrals and had transportation arranged if people tested positive,” says Junge.
But there were zero positive tests.
“It’s just a big relief for people,” says Christian. “They’re aware of the risks and, of course, being on the street, they’re especially vulnerable. If we make it past the trust issue and people see you’re there and caring and wanting to help, there’s a real gratitude.”
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Mobile public health lab and tent for COVID-19 testing at The Cut.
Two people at The Cut testing clinic are helped by OHA staff, Tracy Hulett, left, and Patty Ness, right.
We know people in Oregon continue to have questions about COVID-19 vaccinations and eligibility, particularly as we near April 19, when everyone 16 and older become eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon. Join OHA's Facebook Live at noon on Thursday, April 15 to have your vaccination and eligibility questions answered by our experts.
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There are five new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,446, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 567 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 171,398.
Effective today, OHA has asked all of the state’s vaccine providers to immediately pause administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, following an announcement this morning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Today, OHA reported that 29,935 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 19,831 doses were administered on April 12 and 10,104 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on April 12. Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize.
The seven-day running average is now 38,660 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered a total of 1,194,369 doses of Pfizer, 1,036,596 doses of Moderna and 85,148 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of today, 916,207 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. There are 1,447,624 who have had at least one dose.
To date, 1,460,745 doses of Pfizer, 1,213,000 doses of Moderna and 213,300 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.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (5), Benton (17), Clackamas (51), Clatsop (3), Columbia (6), Coos (12), Crook (7), Curry (7), Deschutes (34), Douglas (10), Grant (5), Harney (3), Hood River (8), Jackson (53), Jefferson (1), Josephine (7), Klamath (24), Lake (3), Lane (39), Lincoln (9), Linn (16), Malheur (5), Marion (35), Multnomah (83), Polk (6), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (11), Union (1), Wasco (3), Washington (95) and Yamhill (6).
Oregon’s 2,442nd COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Dec. 11, 2020 and died on Dec. 27, 2020 at Providence Portland Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,443rd COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old woman in Linn County who tested positive on Dec. 25, 2020 and died on Jan. 14 at Santiam Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 2,444th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on April 8 and died on April 7 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,445th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 5 and died on Feb. 19 at Adventist Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,446th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old woman in Coos County who tested positive on March 15 and died on April 11 at Bay Area Hospital. She had underlying conditions.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 197 which is 20 more than yesterday. There are 52 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is four more than yesterday.
The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity.
More information about hospital capacity can be found here.
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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