Any Oregonian who wants the Covid-19 vaccine can get it, under rules Gov. Tina Kotek and five state agencies under her purview announced two weeks ago. But some Oregon lawmakers are now questioning whether the state needed more tools for a faster response. 

The push comes after the creation of the West Coast Health Alliance in early September, a move the Democratic governors of Oregon, Hawaii, California and Washington say will safeguard vaccine access in the states despite pressure on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the Trump administration. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all members of the centers’ key vaccine advisory panel in June, replacing several with vaccine skeptics who have voiced opinions about vaccine safety at odds with major American professional medical organizations. 

Many Oregonians, however, expressed frustration with the state’s failure to follow up news of the alliance with firm action on the Covid vaccine. Throughout early September, pharmacists  turned Oregonians without prescriptions away from appointments in anticipation of guidance from a Sept. 18-19 CDC vaccine advisory panel meeting. Some Oregonians began traveling to Washington for vaccines after its health department issued a Sept. 4 standing order to protect Covid vaccine access for individuals ages 6 months or older. 

“What it took to get Oregon to where they got… it was an incredibly cumbersome process,” state Sen. Lisa Reynolds, a Democrat from Portland and chair of the Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health, told the Capital Chronicle. “So we need to streamline it so we can be not just responsive but even more proactive in what we recommend.”

The annual fall shot was harder to access this year amid tightened guidance from the Food & Drug Administration in late August, which effectively limited the vaccine to people 65 or older or those with an underlying health condition that would risk severe illness. The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has since recommended that patients ages 6 months or older consider risk factors and undergo “individual decision making” with their health care provider before taking the shot without a prescription. 

It took Oregon just under two weeks after Washington’s standing order to move to ensure Covid-19 vaccine access across the state. The West Coast Health Alliance recommended Sept. 17 that anyone 6 months or older who wants the protection should seek the vaccine. 

Oregon agencies that license pharmacists, nurses and doctors and regulate insurers subsequently announced they would ensure the vaccine was covered by insurance and available to those who wanted it. 

Kotek herself is also amenable to legislative action on the issue, according to her spokesperson Lucas Bezerra, who defended the September vaccine rollout in an emailed statement. He described it as “quick and decisive action” that supported providers, gave clarity for insurers and delivered effective vaccines to Oregonians ahead of the respiratory season. 

“Other states have more direct comprehensive legal tools that exist to accomplish these goals,” Bezerra said. “Governor Kotek is always looking for ways to improve access to affordable health care, no matter what comes out of Washington D.C. She will continue to work with legislators on strategies to support the needs of Oregonians.”

Nearby Democratic states have continued to take further action on safeguarding vaccine access. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 17 signed into law a measure allowing the state’s vaccine insurance coverage requirements to defer to medical profession organizations while creating liability protections for doctors. 

New Mexico opened its special session this week with a stated goal of strengthening its vaccine policies. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green under existing authority declared under an emergency Sept. 23 proclamation that pharmacists could administer the Covid-19 shot to any ages 3 or older. 

What would a bill look like?

Reynolds is considering legislation for the 2026 session that would allow state medical providers to defer to the West Coast Health Alliance’s recommendations rather than the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, which she said used to be the “gold standard.” 

The Oregon Board of Pharmacy held a special Sept. 17 meeting doing just that for the Covid-19, flu and RSV vaccines, but Reynolds said she is open to doing so for more kinds of vaccines. The CDC advisory panel has also considered delaying the recommendation for the Hepatitis B newborn vaccine to instead be offered at the one-month mark. 

“I think we just have to figure out what is going to be the best, most consistent tool moving forward, if it’s standing order, and then how do we then change some of the regulations in place so that standing orders are easy to give,” Reynolds said. “I’m mindful that we may not always have a Democratic governor, so I would hope that somehow, ‘is there a way to codify the data we use in making these decisions?’”

It’s less clear what action lawmakers in the House will take on the vaccine. Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland and chair of the House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care, told the Capital Chronicle in early September that he was looking into the issue. He and his staff have not returned inquiries seeking comment since. 

State Sen. Deb Patterson, a Salem Democrat and chair of the Senate Health Care Committee, said she is still thinking about how to best legislate on vaccines given the focus on addressing billions of dollars in overall cuts to health care passed under the GOP tax and spending megalaw. Because 2026 is an even year with a shorter Oregon legislative session, lawmakers typically limit themselves to two pieces of legislation.

“Most of those legislators have already committed their two bills, which means they wouldn’t have room for this right now, or they’re going to have an omnibus bill that might fit this in as a tweak somewhere,” Patterson said in an interview. “Any big changes would have to take place in 2027 or during a special session.” 

Access to vaccines has already proven to be a politically thorny issue in the Oregon Legislature as well. A record number of Oregon kindergartners, about one in 10, received nonmedical vaccine exemptions for their state due to requests from their parents, according to state data from the 2024-25 school year. In 2019, hundreds of parents made their way to Salem in at times vitriolic opposition to a bill that would have eliminated religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccine mandates. State troopers blocked anti-vaccine protesters from entering the Capitol building in 2022 after they refused to wear masks. 

Patterson said she wants to build trust in health care at a time of heightened misinformation, with a particular focus on primary care access. 

“There doesn’t seem to be any reason to think that we won’t have access to the vaccines,” she said. “But it would be naive to think we might not in the future.”

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: [email protected]. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter.

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