Sept. 28, 2021
Diana, a lawyer, who lives in Brownsville, waited quite some time before getting vaccinated. A 63-year-old with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a pacemaker, she felt hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I figured that I could just keep myself safe and isolated from exposure since I am working from home," shared Diana. But as time went on, I realized that no matter how isolated I stayed, I was still risking exposure - the trip to the post office, the gas station, greeting a delivery person at my gate, etc.”
Diana moved to Brownsville (pictured below), a small local community outside of Eugene, many years ago. She likes the quiet life and small-town comradery. But, as the pandemic has gone on, even local folks have been exposed to and contracted COVID-19 during this past year. “You don’t need to live in a big city to get exposed! I, personally, made the decision that the vaccine was my safest path to protecting myself and my townsfolk from exposure.”
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After consulting with her primary care doctor and pharmacist, Diana decided it was time to get the shot. She had no reaction to the two shots other than a bit of a sore arm.
“I feel so much safer now. But I still wear my mask and social distance. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” said Diana. “I will continue to remain safe, given my age and health conditions. But I now feel more confident that should I get exposed to COVID that I will have a better chance of survival and not end up in the over-crowded emergency rooms.”
Diana has this message to share with others in Oregon: “Just do it! Please. We can't get this virus under control if we don't have a united effort.”
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Throughout the update, leaders emphasized the importance of all people in Oregon completing their first and second doses if needed, and those who are eligible were encouraged to make a plan to get their Pfizer booster shot.
The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup expanded on the federal recommendations to support use of the Pfizer booster among people ages 18-64 who have underlying medical conditions, and who are in occupational or institutional settings that put them at higher risk of COVID-19 exposure and transmission.
The need to address the long-standing health and social inequities when developing a plan to ensure both initial vaccine doses and boosters are available to Oregon’s Asian, Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Tribal communities was also emphasized by Director Banks.
If you are fully vaccinated, you are protected
Governor Brown and OHA were clear: If you are not eligible for a Pfizer booster or you have received a Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine, there is no need to worry. All three vaccines protect against serious illness and death from COVID-19.
We want to keep you informed about COVID-19 in Oregon. Data are provisional and change frequently.
• Samples for 449,809 tests have been reported positive.
• Samples for 6,454,954 tests have been reported negative.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 822, which is 44 fewer than yesterday. There are 237 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is six fewer than yesterday.
There are 53 available adult ICU beds out of 645 total (8% availability) and 341 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,238 (8% availability).
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.
Note: Please do not visit an emergency department for COVID-19 testing, unless you require emergency care for your symptoms.
Emergency departments in Oregon are under significant strain responding to the current surge in COVID-19. You can find a test here.
If you have a medical condition that doesn’t require emergency care, contact your provider. An urgent care center may also help you get the care you need and will save emergency departments from added strain.
Today, OHA reported that 9,715 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Sept. 27. Of this total, 4,810 were administered on Sept. 27: 1,309 were initial doses, 1,024 were second doses and 109 were third doses. The remaining 4,905 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Sept. 27.
The seven-day running average is now 6,926 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered 2,967,292 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 1,901,384 doses of Moderna and 214,028 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
As of today, 2,731,271 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,501,554 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.
These data are preliminary and subject to change.
Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated today.
There are 41 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 3,750, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
Oregon Health Authority reported 1,658 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 326,191.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (15), Benton (22), Clackamas (88), Clatsop (9), Columbia (15), Coos (66), Crook (23), Curry (11), Deschutes (103), Douglas (81), Gilliam (1), Grant (7), Harney (28), Hood River (19), Jackson (55), Jefferson (27), Josephine (29), Klamath (109), Lake (21), Lane (141), Lincoln (11), Linn (68), Malheur (58), Marion (118), Morrow (5), Multnomah (115), Polk (31), Tillamook (5), Umatilla (167), Union (9), Wallowa (2), Wasco (26), Washington (103) and Yamhill (70).
Note: More information about the cases and deaths will be provided in an updated news release.
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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