Gov. Kate Brown promises swifter COVID-19 vaccination rate amid criticism that 75% of vaccines are sitting id – OregonLive

Gov. Kate Brown said Monday that the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations across the state soon will ramp up quickly.

In a written statement, Brown addressed widespread public discontent over news that close to 75% of vaccines delivered to the state have yet to make it into the arms of Oregonians.

Oregon, like most of the country, is not moving fast enough, Brown said in a news release. All states are grappling with the same logistical challenges, and while we are making steady progress, we must move even more quickly when every vaccination has the potential to save someones life.

Today, I directed the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to achieve the benchmark of 12,000 vaccinations administered in Oregon per day by the end of the next two weeks, Brown continued. That will put us on track to deploy every vaccine we have in our hands each week.

Brown shared no details about how the state will achieve 12,000 vaccinations per day -- for instance, whether it would offer trained staff to hospitals and health systems that are administering the vaccines or if it will open its own vaccination clinics. Brown said only that public health officials will work with healthcare providers and pharmacies to streamline the distribution process.

This is an all-hands-on-deck effort, and I have directed OHA to partner as widely as possible to ensure we are using all available resources to ramp up Oregons vaccinations rapidly, Brown said.

For the past week, hospitals and health systems across the state have inoculated about 3,500 Oregonians per a day -- and the pace has only slowed over the past week. Some providers cited the holidays as one reason for a delay in administering vaccinations.

But earlier in the month, burgeoning problems were apparent. The state became the 49th in the nation to start vaccinating healthcare workers on Dec. 16 -- a full two days after the first shipments of the vaccines arrived in Oregon.

In the weeks since, criticism has only intensified as it has become clear that the bulk of vaccines delivered to hospitals and health systems across the state are still sitting unused in industrial refrigerators and freezers. According to a Bloomberg ranking of states, as of Monday Oregon ranked 37th lowest in the percentage of vaccines -- 25% -- that had made it into the arms of healthcare workers, nursing home residents and some firefighters and prisons staff. Those groups have been designated as the first to receive the two-dose regimens of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

As of Monday, the state said it had inoculated 51,275 residents, even though according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 202,200 doses have been delivered. The state said 190,200 doses have been delivered, but thats the same number the state had been reporting for the past four days.

A few states -- including Maine, Connecticut, Tennessee and North Dakota -- have used more than 50% of their doses. South Dakota leads the nation with more than 60% of its vaccine shipments used. Washington stood at 24% of its available vaccines administered.

Oregon State Rep. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, issued a scathing statement Monday criticizing Brown and Democratic colleagues for the slow vaccination rollout.

It is unfathomable that Oregon is in the bottom ten amongst states across the nation in COVID-19 vaccination distribution, Smith said, citing a ranking from this past weekend. Oregon has since risen in the rankings as a few other states worsened.

Smith claimed that lack of resources and funding have been used as excuses.

Lives are being lost, many hang in the balance and Oregonians deserve a state government that has a clear and reliable plan for a systematic vaccine rollout, Smith said. These plans exist and I urge Gov. Brown and House Majority Leader (Barbara) Smith Warner (D-Portland) to immediately prioritize the lives of our fellow Oregonians.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

Continue reading here:

Gov. Kate Brown promises swifter COVID-19 vaccination rate amid criticism that 75% of vaccines are sitting id - OregonLive