OHA Public Health Director Rachael Banks during today’s pre…

"As @OregonGovBrown said, we just don’t have enough vaccines to immunize everyone. As long as supplies are scarce, we’ll face really tough calls on who to immunize next. There are good reasons to prioritize educators & good reasons to prioritize seniors." https://t.co/VfDH9r4vPj

"The plan is to vaccinate most educators before we start vaccinating seniors on February 8. If we want to give schools a shot at re-opening this school year with a vaccinated staff, this is the time to do it."

"Overall, new cases, hospitalizations and our test positivity rate have all declined. Thank you Oregonians.”

“As of today, we’re adding 877 new cases of COVID-19 in Oregon. There have been 136,839 reported cases of COVID-19 in Oregon to date. During the week of Jan. 11-17, we reported 7,860 new daily cases, a 4% decrease from the prev. week."

"For the past five days, we have seen the lowest daily case counts since mid-November. Between Jan. 13 and Jan. 21 the 7-day moving average of daily cases has declined from 1,308 to 828, a 37% drop. In the past week, Oregon is third-lowest state in the nation in new case rates."

"Overall, since the start of the pandemic, Oregon has the 4th lowest case-rate among states in the United States."

"Hospitalizations from COVID-19 are also declining from the peaks we saw in late December. On January 1, there were 466 people hospitalized with COVID-19. Yesterday there were 329."

"We’re seeing a recent increase in testing: 129,723 COVID-19 tests were admin. the week ending Jan. 16. That increase was accompanied by a sharp drop in + test results, which fell to 5.9%. This decline suggests we may continue to see lower # of new cases in the near-term future."

"However, last week Oregon recorded the highest number of weekly deaths since the beginning of the pandemic at 195, that grim number broke the previous record which we recorded just the week before."

"Today, we’re reporting 22 more deaths. As of today, the toll of COVID-19 associated deaths in Oregon stands at 1,865. We know deaths are a lagging indicator. But each death leaves a hole in the lives of friends, family and neighbors. We are sorry for their loss."

"As of Jan. 20, just over a month after the first COVID-19 vaccines arrived, Oregon ranks 19th in the nation in percentage of vaccine administered at 50% and 20th in the nation in the percentage of population given at least one dose at 4.6%."

"Oregon has vaccinated two-thirds of those in the “Phase 1A” group of health care workers, first responders and people who live or work in nursing homes and other group residences. That’s about a week ahead of schedule."

"Over the past week, Oregon vaccinators met @OregonGovBrown's daily target of administering 12,000 doses per day, delivering a daily average of 12,289 shots. As of Jan. 20th, a cumulative total of 253,711 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered."

"To date, 479,325 first and second doses of vaccine have been allocated to sites across Oregon. Over a handful of weeks, we’ve passed most states in the pace of our roll-out. But it is misleading to judge any state’s effort at this stage."

"Every state is grappling with the same fundamental problem: a shortage of vaccines. Every state is making hard choices about how to prioritize who is eligible to get vaccinated and how we distribute these scarce, precious, life-saving resources."

"Depending on daily data fluctuations, the pace of Oregon’s roll-out is either in-line with, or ahead of, most other states. Every state receives a per capita allocation of vaccines."

"When you read about other states opening doors to all seniors, or bus drivers or people with chronic health conditions, those states are expanding the number of people eligible for a vaccine on top of the same proportionately limited supply of doses that Oregon faces."

"Other states are doing that by either spending second doses for people who’ve received they’re first vaccination, putting people at risk of not getting a booster shot. Or they’re offering the promise of a vaccine to more people than they can actually deliver one to."

"Educators are next-up in Oregon. I know that’s controversial. But if we want to re-open schools this school year, with a workforce of educators that has the confidence to re-enter a classroom knowing they are protected by a vaccine, this is the time to act."

"The size of the educator workforce is manageable enough that the supply of vaccines we receive from the federal government is adequate enough to allow us to vaccinate most educators before Feb. 8th, when we begin vaccinating seniors."

"If we waited to vaccinate educators after seniors, we wouldn’t have enough doses of vaccines to finish vaccinating them until May. Again, the scarcity of doses forces states to make tough calls and hard choices."

"Seniors are our most vulnerable population, along with others we deeply care about. Quickly vaccinating educators adds to the robust safety guidelines for schools and helps to get students back into classrooms, and parents back to work, months sooner."

"Restarting schools mitigates the harsh educational and economic inequities the pandemic has worsened. As @OregonGovBrown stated, Oregon acted early in the pandemic to protect our seniors."

"Oregon has the 2nd lowest COVID-19 infection rate among seniors in the nation. Oregon has the 3rd lowest death rate among people 65 and older."

"Senior vaccinations are already underway: pharmacies have already finished giving first doses for residents and staff at nursing facilities in Oregon. Oregon will open vaccines to all seniors over a 4-week period starting with people 80 and older on February 8th."

OHA Public Health Director Rachael Banks during today’s press conference: "I want to give you an overview of the pandemic in Oregon and an update on the progress of our vaccination efforts."

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