SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown will not be among the first Oregonians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Rather than jump the line due to her role as the state’s top elected leader, the governor will likely be vaccinated sometime after health care workers and vulnerable residents in long-term care facilities, a spokesperson for Brown told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday, Dec. 10. She’ll continue to stay mostly at home, wear a mask and keep her distance from other people until then, he said.

“The first vaccines will be distributed for frontline health care workers and long-term care facility residents, followed by others who are most vulnerable and at highest risk for COVID-19 infection,” Deputy Communications Director Charles Boyle wrote in an email. “Vaccines will be distributed using a phased approach while available doses are limited. Gov. Brown is likely not to be vaccinated until later in the distribution process when the vaccine is more widely available to most Oregonians.”

Brown has been taking precautions to minimize her potential exposure to COVID-19 since the spring, including wearing a mask and limiting the number of staff and other people with whom she meets. Boyle said the governor will continue those measures until it’s her turn to be vaccinated.

“In the meantime, she will continue to practice physical distancing, wear a mask, and avoid large gatherings — as we are asking all Oregonians to continue doing — to stay safe and help stop the spread of COVID-19 until vaccines become more widely available,” Boyle wrote.

The governor was tested for coronavirus early in the pandemic when the state was still tightly controlling who could get the test, although she got the test only after a reporter asked if Brown had been checked because she exhibited symptoms of illness, such as coughing during a press conference. Brown tested negative for coronavirus, which at the time was far less prevalent than it is now.

This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving heath issue.