Health workers stuck in snow give vaccine to other drivers stranded on Oregon highway

Grants Pass, Oregon – Oregon health workers who got stuck in a snowstorm on their way home from a COVID-19 vaccination event went from car to car to inject stranded drivers before the expiration of several doses. Josephine County Public Health said on Facebook that the “impromptu vaccination clinic” took place after about 20 employees were pulled over in freeway traffic after a vaccination clinic on Tuesday.

CBS Medford, Oregon affiliate, KTVL-TV reported they were stranded near Hayes Hill on their way to Grants Pass after staffing a vaccination clinic at Illinois Valley High School.

Six of the doses were restricted to people in Grants Pass, but “the snow meant those doses wouldn’t reach them until they expired,” the health department said in a Facebook post.

KTVL explained that the doses would have expired six hours after opening.

Not wanting to waste them, staff walked from vehicle to vehicle, offering people a chance to receive the vaccine. A county ambulance was on hand for security.

All the doses were administered, including one to an employee of the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office who arrived too late for the vaccination clinic but ended up stopping with the others, officials said.

Josephine County Director of Public Health Mike Weber said it was one of the “coolest surgeries he’s been on.”