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Oregon plan to vaccinate seniors, teachers in jeopardy after feds say there’s no vaccine reserve

Lane Hawkes, emergency room nurse, receives a Covid vaccine at Salem Hospital on Dec. 17 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

Oregon’s plan to begin vaccinating seniors and educators next week could be in jeopardy after federal authorities told Gov. Kate Brown the state will not be receiving additional Covid vaccine doses as expected next week.

Brown announced plans earlier this week to expand vaccination to those groups after receiving word the federal government would release additional vaccine doses in its reserve to states. But Friday morning, Brown said she’d learned there was no remaining federal reserve from General Gustave Perna, who’s leading the federal vaccine rollout effort for the Department of Defense.

“This is a deception on a national scale. Oregon’s seniors, teachers, and all of us were depending on the promise of Oregon’s share of the federal reserve of vaccines being released to us,” Brown said in a statement.

Brown said Oregonians 65 and older, as well as K-12 educators and school employees, child care providers and preschool workers would be eligible for vaccines starting Jan. 23. That group, which includes over 800,000 Oregonians, would be a significant expansion from the current guidelines, which include health care workers, nursing home residents and first responders.

It’s unclear if those plans will change with fewer vaccine doses now expected.

Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, wrote a letter asking Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to explain the lack of reserve vaccines.

“If true, this is extremely disturbing, and puts our plans to expand eligibility at grave risk. Those plans were made on the basis of reliance on your statement about “releasing the entire supply” you have in reserve. If this information is accurate, we will be unable to begin vaccinating our vulnerable seniors on January 23rd as planned,” Allen wrote.

Brown is holding a press conference Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. to share more information about vaccine planning.