Umatilla County is on the same unseen path as every other county in the nation when it comes administering COVID-19 vaccinations.

“There are a lot more unknowns than anything else,” said Dr. Jonathan Hitzman, public health officer for the county.

In that role, the Pendleton family medical practioner works with the Umatilla County Commissioners and heath director Joseph Fiumara to guide policy and practices for the public health department that serves some 78,000 residents.

Like other states, last week Oregon announced its draft plan for getting residents vaccinated against the disease, including who gets to be in the first, second and third waves.

It looks like the state’s hospitals and public health departments will be on the initial list of vaccination dispensers Fiumara said.

But what’s true today could well change by the next day, he and Hitzman cautioned on Friday.

It helps to know Oregon is eligible to get about 2% of the nation’s first doses of vaccine, based on state population.

That’s about 100,000 vaccines, or perhaps a little over that, but the state has nearly 300,000 health care workers, including about 100,000 people staffing long term care facilities, Hitzman said.

That calls for a sub-prioritization on these first vaccinations, he added, and with the two-dose requirement, that group won’t be fully immunized until sometime next month.

In Umatilla County, the bulk of medical providers are tied to St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton and Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston, the public health officer said.

Once front line health care providers are vaccinated it looks like the next group, the “1b’ tier, will be essential workers such as teachers, food and agricultural workers, utilities crews, police and corrections officers, Hitzman predicted.

“I don’t expect to see the vaccine in our health dept until that wave.”

Most people in Umatilla County are unlikely to be able to get the vaccine until next summer or so, and only then if production of the formula goes smoothly, he said.

The county public health department has applied to the state to vaccinate out of four sites: its clinics in Pendleton and Hermiston and at two school-based health centers in the county.

Fiumara said his staff is exploring multiple options to keep the Pfizer vaccine at the extreme cold temperature needed.

“If we do not have a permanent cold storage option — something aside from dry ice — then we will be prioritized for the Moderna vaccine, but can still have access to Pfizer through a hub and spoke model being set up by Oregon Health Authority through regional hospital areas.”

He will have no qualms in getting vaccinated, Hitzman said.

The hope is that at least 70% of the whole population also says yes. That’s the percentage anticipated to provide herd immunity.

Like every other piece of the vaccination journey so far, that part is evolving nearly minute-by-minute.

“The absolute known truth is that we are looking at a very fluid situation,” Hitzman said.