UMATILLA COUNTY — After Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement that all school staff, educators and volunteers must be vaccinated no later than Oct. 18, emotions have been mixed through the Umatilla County school systems — some have welcomed the announcement while others have pushed back.

At times calm and respectful, at other times highly charged and emotional, many of these concerns and feelings were expressed at a community forum Thursday, Aug. 19, at Armand Larive Middle School, Hermiston.

Superintendent Tricia Mooney, along with Dr. Jon Hitzman, the county’s public health officer, and Alisha Lundgren, Umatilla County’s deputy health director, fielded questions from community members, parents and district employees. For more than an hour, the trio patiently answered questions ranging from athletics to substitute teachers to sick leave. The vast majority of concerns, however, focused on misinformation surrounding vaccine efficacy and safety, rather than the outright refusal of the recent mandates.

“My role here is mostly to provide you with scientific facts and evidence that you may have questions about,” Dr. Hitzman said, “I know that social media has done an incredibly ‘good’ job of disseminating sometimes untrue information.”

Some such concerns include whether it’s possible to get COVID-19 from the vaccine itself or whether there is any danger in getting the vaccine. According to Hitzman, the CDC and an exceptional body of research, this is not possible as there is no live virus within the vaccine. Instead, the mRNA vaccine is composed of basic lipids, salts and sugars that “teach” the body how to fight the virus.

“As a doctor and someone in the scientific field, it’s actually some of the coolest technology we’ve ever come up with,” he said.

As for the risks of getting the vaccine, Hitzman emphasized that there’s a greater chance of someone dying in a car accident or plane crash than dying from the vaccine. In the roughly 360 million doses of the vaccine administered in the United States, Hitzman said there have only been three documented and confirmed deaths stemming from blood clots after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That is a percentage of 0.000001%. According to one study from Tulane University, there’s a greater percentage of being killed by an asteroid impact while you go about your day.

There have been no confirmed deaths from the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

With that said, VAERS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s adverse effects reporting database, had just shy of 6,500 people who have reported a death within a certain time frame of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

It is important to note, however, that these deaths are currently being investigated and could come from any number of reasons, and are not confirmed to have been caused by the vaccine. Regardless, this number makes up 0.0018% of administered doses — roughly the same odds of dying in a tornado.

“When you look at the data of who’s ending up in the hospital and who’s dying, the numbers are overwhelmingly the unvaccinated population,” Hitzman said.

And, since no vaccine has been approved for kids 12 and under, they have no way to protect themselves, said Hitzman, except for the recommendations that have been promoted — masks, social distancing, good hygiene and vaccines for those old enough.

“Those of us in the education field, those of us in the healthcare field, we’re all mandatory reporters and what that basically means is that we have an obligation to protect your children when they are under our care,” Hitzman said.

Officials focus on keeping children in schools

Despite the frustrations and anger over the vaccine mandate, nearly everyone recognized the importance of getting kids back in school after a year of hybrid and distance learning. This sentiment was emphasized by Superintendent Mooney, who said that her main priority was getting kids in school.

“We know, without a doubt, that education was not the same last year when our students were in comprehensive distance learning,” she said, adding that they would do whatever it took to safely get kids learning in person.

She said she was proud of how hard the district’s employees had worked over the last 18 months and how they’ve stepped up, made plans, adapted and made new plans. But, she said that even though she wasn’t a fan of Gov. Brown taking away local control, she said they would enforce the new mask and vaccine mandates.

“I want to be very clear that I value our staff and all of their hard work, however, I am licensed in the state of Oregon; I am legally bound to follow the laws,” she said. “That is a reality and my intent is to make sure that we keep our students in person, in school, every day. That is our goal. That is our collective commitment as a district.”

“While this isn’t starting how we had hoped it would,” Mooney said, “I’m looking forward to having our kids face to face.”

Count Pendleton Superintendent Chris Fritsch as one of the school officials unsurprised by the governor’s announcement.

Considering the recent announcements from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee that they were requiring their teachers to get the shot, Fritsch anticipated Oregon Gov. Kate Brown soon would follow. While he understood the personal feelings people may have about vaccine requirements, Fritsch said the most effective tools at limiting the spread of the virus have been vaccinations and masking.

“We need to do everything we can to keep schools open,” he said.

While the district could potentially lose staff who refuse to get vaccinated, Fritsch said the district will have to deal with vacancies as they come. When Umatilla County Public Health did vaccination drives for educators in January and February, Fritsch estimated that between 75%-80% of Pendleton school staff were given the shot, a number that may have risen since then if staff opted to get vaccinated privately.

Fritsch said Pendleton also plans to comply with the governor’s mask mandate. The state had previously provided local school districts with the ability to create their own masking guidelines, and although Pendleton initially decided to make masks optional in the fall, Fritsch said he was reconsidering the decision as local cases began to surge again in the summer.

As cases and hospitalizations began to rise as the vaccination rate remained well below state average, Fritsch said he considered instituting a mask requirement at the local level, but the governor’s announcement rendered those discussions moot.

— Reporter Antonio Sierra contributed to this story.