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May 22, 2021
Dear Neighbors and Friends,
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.
Another drop in hospitalizations has been reported, as statewide case counts remain stable. Meanwhile, our daily average for vaccinations has gone back above 30,000 doses.
As opposed to where we were a few weeks ago, Oregon is coming into line with the decline in cases that we’re seeing nationwide. Nationally, today’s average (over seven days) number of new cases has dipped below 30,000 for the first time since last June. Much of this is due to the growing impact of vaccinations.
However, this good news masks a somber statistic—the good news really only applies to those who’ve been vaccinated. For those who are unvaccinated, the risk of infection, hospitalization, and death remains about as high as ever. You’ll find more on that in an article and series of graphs from the Washington Post that I link to below.
The OHA does not tell us which of those Oregonians described in its daily death reports have been vaccinated or not (that information is only given in the aggregated monthly breakthrough reports), but we do know that nearly all of them were unvaccinated.
Hence the need to get the vaccine out to as many people as possible as soon as possible.
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 509 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 198,356.
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Variant COVID Cases: The most recent variant case counts include case counts include 716 (up from 425) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 78 cases (up from 29) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 56 (up from 35) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant. In addition, we are now seeing 237 (up from 196) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 631 (up from 586) of the B.1.429 variant. OHA is now producing a Variant Tableau dashboard providing current variant case numbers for the state as a whole and for various parts of the state.
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Positive Test Results: OHA reported 889 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 286,908.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 19,002 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,025,036.
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Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.7%.
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Hospitalization Information: OHA only releases updates for the first two metrics over the weekend. I’ll catch you up on the rest on Monday.
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 258 (27 fewer than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 74 (4 fewer than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 156 (5 more than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 552 (127 more than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 39 (3 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 791 (12 more than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report 5 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,618.
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Vaccinations:
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 37,113
- 21,756 were conducted and reported yesterday
- 15,357 were conducted earlier, but the reports were received yesterday (there can potentially be a three-day window for reporting)
- The 7-day running average is now 30,551 doses per day.
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 3,735,647
- 2,071,308 Pfizer doses
- 1,531,060 Moderna doses
- 131,571 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,150,960
- 1,709,312 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- To date, 4,746,235 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 396,120 for the week.)
- 79.3% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 79.5%.
- 52.5% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (59.9% of those 16 and older, 62.9% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
- 41.6% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (48.1% of those 16 and older).
- For more details, including the demographics of those receiving the vaccine and the counties in which the vaccines are being administered, here is a link to more information about the vaccine and vaccination protocols.
- Here is the daily vaccination tracker from Bloomberg.
- And here is a link to each county's vaccination website. It provides access information for those in Category 1a and 1b
- Want to see how close each county is to hitting the 65% target for moving to lower risk? Here's an interactive map showing percentages for total population and for eligible population (residents age 16+). It shows how close each county is to hitting the 65% target.
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Additional Brief Updates:
- We are seeing ongoing improvements in COVID case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths across the country. Risk levels in this country seem to be improving day by day. Well, that may be true for vaccinated people, but for those unvaccinated, the risk in many states (including Washington and Oregon) is as high as it has ever been. This series of annotated graphs from The Washington Post shows us this grim reality.
- This open letter published in the Statesman-Journal from a group of academics, health professionals, and activists points out the barriers that still remain for many in Latinx communities around the state.
- As I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, COVID cases in Central Oregon continue to surge. Here's more from the Bend Bulletin.
- An ethicist weighs in on the question of whether or not vaccination lotteries are ethical.
- The Oregonian has more details on how Oregon's vaccination lottery will actually work.
- And here are a series of Q & As on the lottery from the Statesman-Journal.
- With public health officials moving away from large vaccination sites and bringing smaller events to the people, we’re going to see lots of variation depending on locale. It seems inevitable that in Las Vegas one of the places to hold a vaccination event is at a strip club.
- In a piece of very good news, the FDA is now saying that the Pfizer vaccine does not need to be kept at the sub-zero temperatures that were once thought necessary. It appears that they can be kept at refrigerator temperatures for up to a month. This will open up access to the vaccine to many hard-to-reach populations in rural areas and in many other countries. Here's more.
- As many colleges and universities are requiring students returning in the fall to be vaccinated, a closer look shows that such requirements depend on where the state is located. Not surprisingly, the patterns are political.
Where Are Today’s Cases?
If we put together the positive test results and new “presumptive cases” reported today, the overall number of new cases reported is 509. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Benton (2)
Clackamas (45)
Columbia (8)
Coos (4)
Crook (8)
Curry (2)
Deschutes (44)
Douglas (28)
Grant (1)
Harney (2)
Hood River (2)
Jackson (29)
Jefferson (9)
Josephine (12)
Klamath (28)
Lake (2)
Lane (31)
Lincoln (1)
Linn (30)
Malheur (3)
Marion (60)
Morrow (4)
Multnomah (64)
Polk (10)
Umatilla (11)
Wasco (6)
Washington (51)
Yamhill (12)
And the Deaths:
Oregon’s 2,614th death is a 66-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive May 6 and died May 20 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,615th death is a 91-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive May 4 and died May 19 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,616th death is a 68-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive April 19 and died May 20 at Salem Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,617th death is a 84-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive April 14 and died May 21 at Salem Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,618th death is a 53-year-old woman from Klamath County who tested positive May 17 and died May 19 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
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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