CO ahead of schedule for administering COVID-19 vaccines to seniors



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(Update: video added, Deschutes County Health Department comments)

Residents 75 and over can now make an appointment to be vaccinated

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Central Oregon is one of the only areas in the state to be approved to begin immunizing all residents 75 years of age and older. That puts the region well ahead of schedule, as the Oregon Health Authority’s latest distribution plan indicated the group was not to become eligible until February 14.

This is in large part thanks to a successful vaccination event at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond. From Wednesday to Sunday last week, 4,600 people were vaccinated, mostly educators and caregivers – a group that the OHA said was not expected to be able to receive the vaccines until this week.

Officials said 10,000 more vaccines are expected at the fairgrounds this week. In the future, vaccinations will be administered there from Tuesday to Saturday.

Supply is weekly, so central Oregon may not always be faster than the rest of the state.

Morgan Emerson, public information officer at the Deschutes County Health Department, told NewsChannel 21 that more than 12,600 people had been vaccinated in the county on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the department has opened its Immunization Interest Form to all residents of central Oregon. So people who live in Jefferson and Crook counties can start filling it out.

Since launching last Saturday, Emerson said about 28,000 people have signed up. Once people become eligible, they will receive a notification from the health department that they can schedule an appointment for vaccination at www.stcharleshealthcare.org.

Less than 24 hours after Monday’s announcement, more than 6,000 residents of central Oregon in phase 1B – group 3 (75 and over) received the notification.

“When we sent out this notification, we had thousands of vaccine appointments available for central Oregon residents aged 75 or older,” said Emerson. “Appointments are always available and people can schedule online.”

Help Emerson, there is no set date for which people in Phase 1B – Groups 4 and 5 will become eligible. As of now, the OHA says people 70 and over will be eligible the week of February 21, while those 65 and over will be eligible the week of February 28.

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