UMATILLA COUNTY — Mired near the bottom of the state’s vaccination rates, Umatilla County is ramping up its vaccination operations.

On the same day Gov. Kate Brown announced the state was expanding vaccination eligibility over the next several months, Umatilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiumara learned that Oregon Health Authority was revising the county’s next vaccination allotment up from 700 to 2,400 doses.

“This will be a huge jump in vaccines from what we had,” he said.

The allocation will include 1,600 first doses of the Moderna vaccine and 800 second doses. The state is also sending an additional 300 doses to the Mirasol Family Health Center in Hermiston.

New possibilities to speed vaccination schedules

Previously frustrated by inconsistent vaccine allocations, Fiumara said OHA gave the county assurance that the upcoming shipment represented a new floor for future vaccine allotments.

If a steady increase of vaccine supply holds true, Fiumara said the county could accelerate its schedule for vaccine operations.

Brown announced on Friday, Feb. 26, that the state intended to expand vaccine eligibility to younger age groups over the next four months, culminating on July 1, when the state expects all Oregonians 16 and older who want the vaccine will have access to it.

To meet the demand, Fiumara said the county plans to continue holding mass vaccine clinics multiple times per week in the coming months, barring further delays from the state or federal government. Currently, the public health department is only planning events in Pendleton, Hermiston and Milton-Freewater, but he said vaccination drives in smaller towns could start once supply starts to balance out with demand.

Fiumara said doctor’s offices and pharmacies will also start to play a bigger role in vaccinating Umatilla County, but many will need time to build out their capacity to administer vaccinations as they continue to tend to patients’ everyday health needs.

In the meantime, the county is seeing success with their current vaccination clinics.

Fiumara said the county is anticipating to vaccinate nearly 1,900 people across three days this week, including those that are getting their second doses.

“It’s been a very busy week,” he said.

At the same time Umatilla County was holding its events, health officials at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation spent Tuesday, Feb. 23, and Wednesday, Feb. 24, vaccinating nearly 1,000 people at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino with the help of the Oregon Army National Guard.

With many tribal members already covered in previous rounds of vaccinations, much of the event’s focus was on non-American Indians who lived or worked on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

With the CTUIR being Pendleton’s top employer, and one of the top employers in the region, Fiumara said he was happy to learn about the number of new residents being vaccinated. Previous to the Feb. 26 announcement, the county had only received that many vaccines in one week once before.

“As far as I’m concerned, every arm that gets a vaccine is good,” he said. “However we get there, we’re happy about it.”

Near the bottom for vaccination rates

The increase in doses comes a week after the county saw its vaccine supply halted due to inclement weather, forcing health officials to postpone drive-thru clinics planned to bring shots to the arms of hundreds of residents. Officials have routinely said the county could be vaccinating hundreds more people each day, but a variety of hiccups and canceled shipments have for months inhibited the county’s efforts to immunize the community against the pandemic.

The latest increase in doses also comes as the county is moved from the extreme coronavirus risk category to high risk for the first time since the state started the four-tiered risk categories in December 2020. Case counts have dropped in the county in recent weeks, and after the state announced on Feb. 23 that it had mishandled months worth of data from county health facilities, Brown’s office approved an appeal from county officials allowing it to move to high risk.

The change allows indoor and outdoor recreation, entertainment, and shopping and retail establishments to reopen at limited capacity. It also allows faith institutions, funeral homes, mortuaries and cemeteries to reopen at limited capacity. Lastly, it allows indoor and outdoor visitation at long-term care facilities and only recommends, rather than requires, that office work be done remotely.

Umatilla County has vaccinated 7,532 residents since vaccine efforts began in late December 2020, with 4,191 of those being second doses, according to data from the Oregon Health Authority. That’s 928 people vaccinated per 10,000 residents, which places the county at the second lowest vaccine rate in Oregon for the second consecutive week.

In Oregon, 588,698 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, with 317,267 of those being second doses, according to state data.