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March 18, 2021
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy, and looking out for your neighbors and friends in these difficult times.
The number of new vaccinations reported today was by far a new record—just under 50,000—which is incredible but must be put in perspective. Because of an earlier computer glitch earlier in the week, the vaccination numbers for Monday and Tuesday were unusually low. The problem has been fixed and the ship has fortunately been righted. Meanwhile, more and more seniors are being vaccinated. Further down in the newsletter, you’ll find more information about a much-improved vaccine information page created by the OHA.
Today marks the two-week anniversary of my having received my first COVID vaccine. I assume that my body is beginning to create the antibodies necessary to fight off the virus, but I now know for sure that that wasn't the case a week ago. Why is that?
As I think I've mentioned before, one of my COVID rituals has been to donate platelets every two weeks and plasma once a month at the local Red Cross donation center. For a number of months now, they've been testing each donation for COVID antibodies as part of a research project to see how many people might have already been infected by the COVID virus. It's a test that I have failed again and again. Today I received my test results for my donation last Saturday, and I was eager to see the usual negative result turn into a positive. Alas, not yet. We're told not to expect to see enough antibodies for 2 to 3 weeks after receiving the vaccine, and that was the case for me. I'll let you know what I learn after next week's donation.
Please stay safe, and let me know if you have any questions about information in today’s newsletter.
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE
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New COVID Cases: OHA reports 393 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 160,622.
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Variant COVID Cases: OHA reports no change to the count of reported variant cases in Oregon. So, the reported number of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant in Oregon remains at 17, and the P.1 (Brazilian) variant is still at 1. There are still 0 reported cases of the other variants.
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Positive Test Results: OHA reported 598 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 232,760.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 8,753 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 4,021,248.
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Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 3.4%.
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Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 116 (8 more than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 38 (9 more than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 155 (5 fewer than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 592 (44 more than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 5 (1 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 798 (7 fewer than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report 4 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now at 2,353.
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Vaccinations: As I’ve mentioned in the last two newsletters, on Monday there was a server outage that affected the ALERT Immunization System (IIS) in Oregon and four other states. It has been fixed, and you’ll see that those unreported vaccinations have now been reported.
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 49,166
- 18,412 were conducted yesterday
- 30,754 were conducted earlier, but the reports were received yesterday (there can potentially be a three-day window for reporting)
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 1,412,232
- 689,828 Pfizer doses
- 696,056 Moderna doses
- 25,425 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 910,385
- 520,385 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- To date, 1,797,545 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (20,400 more than yesterday.)
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Additional Quick Updates:
- The outrage against the recent murders against Asian women in Atlanta is clear and well-deserved. Our Asian-American neighbors are being targeted in racist attacks all across the country, including here in Portland’s Jade District. They have been for more than a year, and it is clearly connected to the former president’s demonization of COVID as the “China Virus.” A new report indicates that there have been at least 3,795 hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic.
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Time has a nice article on 29 numbers that show how the pandemic has changed our lives over the last year. Check it out.
- Vaccine availability differs from county to county. Some of it is due to differing allocations from the state, some of it to different degrees of willingness to be vaccinated. The upshot is that some Portlanders are going to the large vaccination site at the Salem Fairgrounds for their vaccine. The Oregonian has more. has more.
- Many people believe that a key element to safe school reopening is widespread surveillance COVID testing in the schools. The Biden administration agrees. They are sending $10 billion out to the states for testing. Read more here. (This should result in approx.. $100 million coming to Oregon for testing.)
- A new poll from DHM Research shows mixed feelings about the effectiveness of Oregon’s Vaccination rollout.
OHA HAS A NEW WEBSITE FOR VACCINE APPOINTMENTS
OHA has created a new website that is much more user-friendly that shows Oregonians How to Find a COVID-19 Vaccine in Oregon. It provides easy links and clear explanations about the vaccines and what to expect after you’ve been vaccinated. You should check it out.
Also, if you go to the GetVaccinated.oregon.gov to register to be contacted for an appointment, you’ll see that it’s been updated to include new categories of impending eligibility, such as various types of pre-existing conditions. If you become eligible at the end of the month and haven’t done so yet, you should go to the website and register sometime soon.
AT THE CAPITOL
The Senate held another floor session today, and it went quite smoothly. The most controversial bill was SJR 12, the “Hope Amendment,” which would amend the Constitution (following a vote of the people) to clarify that access to affordable and effective health care is the right of all Oregonians, and something that the Legislature should take steps to guarantee. It was the brainchild of the late Representative Mitch Greenlick (who was honored in another resolution SCR 3, which also passed today). Republicans argued that this call to reform and improve our healthcare system would bring unbearable costs to the state. It ended up passing on a party-line vote (with one Democrat voting with the Republicans). Although it won’t in and of itself create a universal health care system, it will send a powerful and important signal if the voters approve it in November 2022. In speaking in support of it during the floor debate, I called it a “powerful Call to Action.” I look forward to it passage in the House and then by the voters.
In an interesting wrinkle today, Senator Dallas Heard (R-Roseburg), who is also the head of the Republican Party of Oregon, was a no-show on two floor votes today. Heard has been routinely voting “no” on bills in committee and on the floor as a protest to the decision to temporarily close the Capitol to non-legislators as a COVID measure (a decision, by the way, that recent polling has shown to be supported by nearly 2/3 of Oregonians across the political spectrum). However, in order to avoid being recorded as a no vote on the resolution recognizing the late Rep Greenlick or a bill in support of a memorial to Vietnam veterans on the Capitol grounds, Heard simply disappeared for those votes. It was an interesting example of selective protest.
The day provided us with another unfortunate example of selective attendance when the Republican senators on Senate Rules chose not to attend that committee’s afternoon meeting. Why? On the agenda were several bills seeking to prevent future session-ending walkouts. Many people from around the state had signed up to speak to the bills, but only Democrats were there to hear them.
Where Are Today’s New Cases?
If we put together the positive test results and new “presumptive cases reported today, the overall number of new cases reported is 393. Nearly 2/3 of today’s reported cases are from outside the Portland Tri-County area. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (3)
Benton (19)
Clackamas (21)
Clatsop (2)
Columbia (1)
Coos (22)
Crook (5)
Curry (5)
Deschutes (11)
Douglas (16)
Grant (2)
Jackson (42)
Jefferson (1)
Josephine (25)
Klamath (5)
Lane (12)
Lincoln (7)
Linn (10)
Malheur (2)
Marion (44)
Morrow (1)
Multnomah (66)
Polk (4)
Tillamook (3)
Umatilla (6)
Union (3)
Wallowa (1)
Wasco (2)
Washington (45)
Yamhill (7)
And the Deaths:
Oregon’s 2,350th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old woman in Klamath County who tested positive on March 12 and died on March 14 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,351st COVID-19 death is a 44-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Feb. 16 and died on March 15 at Salem Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,352nd COVID-19 death is a 54-year-old man in Linn County who tested positive on Dec. 21 and died on March 15 at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,353rd COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on March 14 and died on March 14. Place of death is being confirmed.
Want to See Past Newsletters?
If there was COVID-related information in a past newsletter that you want to go back to, but find you’ve deleted it, you can always go to my legislative website (senatordembrow.com), click on “News and Information,” and you’ll find them all there. Also, if someone forwarded you this newsletter and you’d like to get it directly, you can sign up for it there.
 
AND FINALLY,
Here again are some resources that you will find useful:
If the above links are not providing you with answers to your questions or directing you to the help that you need, please consider me and my office to be a resource. We’ll do our best to assist you or steer you in the right direction.
Best,
 Senator Michael Dembrow
District 23
email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov
web: www.senatordembrow.com
phone: 503-281-0608
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
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