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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
One year ago around this time, the first known case of COVID-19 in Oregon was discovered in a local Lake Oswego school. In the past year, we as a state, nation, and planet have endured many hardships and losses, but have also shown our resilience. As we step forward towards the end of the pandemic, here is the most recent news about vaccinations.
New Eligibility
As of March 1st, Oregonians age 65 and older are eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The timeline of populations eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine is displayed in the graphic below.
There is still far less vaccine available than necessary to vaccinate everyone who is eligible and wants the vaccine. Like many of you, I have been extremely frustrated by the lack of vaccine supply in these initial months. I thank you for your continued patience as supplies continue to ramp up.
New Scheduling Procedures in Metro Area
Last week, a new system of scheduling vaccines went live in conjunction with covidvaccine.oregon.gov. To help alleviate the challenges people have faced attempting to schedule a vaccine appointment at the Oregon Convention Center, the Oregon Health Authority and the All4Oregon health system partners will change the process for appointments via the Vaccine Information Tool (chatbot), which began Monday, March 1, 2021. If you are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, please schedule your appointment at one of the following locations:
For Vaccination at the Oregon Convention Center
Sign up at getvaccinated.oregon.gov. You will be sent an invitation when an appointment is available to you. Names are selected at random each week from the eligible pool.
- Only sign up once on the Get Vaccinated Oregon website.
- Once you create an account for yourself, you can add others to your account and monitor their eligibility as well.
- It may take several weeks before you are contacted to schedule an appointment.
Educators, please use the OHA scheduling tool to schedule your appointment at the Convention Center.
OHSU drive-thru clinic at PDX Airport
These appointments are specifically for seniors with mobility needs, individuals with disabilities and their caregivers. If you know you are eligible for this site, you can schedule online (when appointments are available) via OHSU. New appointments are released Mondays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. (subject to change). Please use OHA's eligibility and scheduling tool.
Pharmacies
Limited vaccination appointments are available for eligible individuals at some local pharmacies.
Pharmacies will screen for eligibility according to state guidelines. They have limited doses and appointments available each week. Go directly to their COVID-19 vaccine websites to make an appointment:
Costco
Fred Meyer
Safeway/Albertsons
Walgreens
Resources for your vaccine-related questions:
Online:
Calling 211:
- Text ORCOVID to 898211 to get text/SMS updates (English and Spanish only) or email ORCOVID@211info.org.
- If you can’t get your COVID-19 vaccine question answered on the website, by text, or by email, you can call 211 or 1-866-698-6155 (Open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, including holidays).
- Please be aware that wait times may be long due to high call volumes. There is an option to get a call back rather than wait on hold (in English and Spanish).
Free interpretation is available for all other languages. TTY: Dial 711 or call 1-866-698-6155. Please note: These are information lines, not vaccine scheduling.
Thank you to all who are working so hard to administer the vaccine. It’s a huge job and it’s a critical one. For those who have been navigating the process to get vaccinated – thank you for your patience and your commitment to your health and the health of your community.
We had two Senate Floor Sessions last week, ramping up the legislature's work as we head toward the middle of the legislative session. The work session posting deadline for bills first introduced in Committee is Friday, March 19th. The first chamber deadline is Tuesday, April 13th, so many bills need to be passed across the Senate floor to the House by that day, and vice versa.
Testifying on Key Priorities
This week, I had the opportunity to testify on a few important bills. Click the images below to watch my testimony.
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SB 580 - Collective Bargaining Definition for School Districts
Amends definition of "employment relations" to include class size and caseload limits as mandatory collective bargaining subjects for school districts.
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SB 704 - LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Ban
This bill outlaws the discovery of victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation from being a reasonable explanation for extreme emotional disturbance for purposes of affirmative defense to murder in the second degree. My former intern, Lane, did great work on this concept and brought it to my attention. I am grateful for all of the hardworking staff in the Legislature that help great ideas become law.
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HB 2590 - Student Success Task Force for Underrepresented Students
This bill creates a Task Force to find ways to help underrepresented students succeed in college. The term “underrepresented” includes students from rural, low-income, or diverse backgrounds, or students that experience disabilities.
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Would you like to provide input on how districts are drawn for state and federal representation? The House and Senate Committees on Redistricting will be holding a series of ten public “virtual roadshow” meetings to take testimony from Oregonians regarding the redrawing of legislative and congressional district lines. These boundaries are updated every ten years and we use Census data to ensure those lines are drawn fairly.
There will be two meetings held in each of the five congressional districts. The majority of Oregon Senate District 19 falls into Congressional District 5, while a small portion of Portland in the north of our District falls falls into Congressional District 3, and a Tualatin portion in the west of the District is in Congressional District 1. To find which Congressional District you fall into, please visit the Legislator Lookup website and enter your address, then select the “Congress” option to see the boundaries. You can also get a rough idea of the district boundaries by looking at the image below.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT PUBLIC INPUT DATES & AGENDAS
The meeting dates for District 1 are as follows (with links to the agendas on date):
The meeting dates for District 3 are as follows (with links to the agendas on date):
The meeting dates for District 5 are as follows:
In the agendas for these meetings, there are links you can use to submit written testimony and/or sign up to present testimony orally over Microsoft Teams. To find out more, click here or visit the Legislature’s website on redistricting.
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with constituents from the Alzheimer’s Association (top picture) and Moms Demand Action (bottom picture). I am so grateful to have constituents pushing for change on key issues this session. These meetings are the best part of my week!
LO Reads Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents
This past February, the City of Lake Oswego and the Lake Oswego Public Library partnered with Respond to Racism, a grassroots community antiracist group, to create a whole month of events and learning opportunities for Lake Oswego residents around one Pulitzer Prize-winning book - Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Here are the events that they put on throughout the entire month of February. These vital conversations are ongoing, so please connect with the Lake Oswego Public Library or Respond to Racism Lake Oswego if you would like to learn more and get involved. Read Across America Day was this past week - I recommend you pick up this compelling book as well and join the community in ongoing learning.
Alzheimer’s Association Education and Support Webinars:
The Alzheimer’s Association is offering some webinars to help educate the community on a variety of topics surrounding Alzheimer’s. Please consider registering if you’d like to learn more about these topics.
10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s
March 15, 10-11:30 a.m. | REGISTER
March 31, 3-4:30 p.m. | REGISTER
Dementia Conversations
March 24, 1-1:45 p.m. | REGISTER
Effective Communication Strategies
March 17, 9-10:30 a.m. | REGISTER
March 25, 3-4:30 p.m. | REGISTER
Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body
March 10, 11-11:45 a.m. | REGISTER
Living with Alzheimer’s: Younger Onset
March 30, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | REGISTER
Understanding Alzheimer’s and Dementia
March 9, 10-11:30 a.m. | REGISTER
March 17, 1-1:45 p.m. | REGISTER
Información para entender la enfermedad de Alzheimer y la demencia
11 de Marzo, 3-4:30 p.m. | REGISTRARSE
Understanding and Responding to Dementia-Related Behavior
March 22, 1-2:30 p.m. | REGISTER
March 31, 3-4:30 p.m. | REGISTER
Last week marked the start of National Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate and commemorate the contributions women have made to history. The National Women’s History Project always declares an annual theme. This year's theme is a continuation of 2020's: Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced.
"The National Women’s History Alliance is determined that the important roles of multicultural suffragists and voting rights activists continue to be recognized and honored," the organization said. "We refuse to allow their voices to be silenced, even by a pandemic."
Please take some time to learn about women’s suffrage in Oregon by visiting this link from the Oregon Secretary of State’s website. You can also visit the Smithsonian page on National Women’s History Month here. PBS is also streaming a collection shows live and on their website during this month so you can tune in to learn more.
As always, please let me know if you need any assistance. My office and I will work to connect you with resources and get your questions answered as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
 Senate Majority Leader Rob Wagner
Senate District 19
email: Sen.RobWagner@OregonLegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1719
address: 900 Court St NE, S-223, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/wagner
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