Baker County officials answer some common COVID-19 Vaccine questions

BAKER COUNTY – There continues to be many questions regarding the COID-19 Vaccine.  We were able to get answers to a few of those questions recently with help of officials in Baker County.

(Q)  Has Baker County had any issues with receiving the vaccine?

(A) As vaccine is allocated to Baker County, we are able to work together with our community COVID-19 vaccine providers to vaccine people.  We have continued to receive vaccine allocations here in Baker County.

(Q) What ages or groups of people are currently being vaccinated and what does the next “group” look like?

(A) Groups in Phase 1 A are open and Phase 1B Group 1-5.  Those signed up for groups that aren’t open may be called early once we exhaust our options from the open groups.  Our goal is to get vaccine out as quickly as possible.
The next group (Phase 1B Group 6) is eligible no later than March 29th, 2021.  It includes adults 45-64 with one or more underlying health conditions with increased risk, migrant and seasonal farm workers, food processing workers and people living in low-income senior housing, senior congregate and independent living.

(Q)  Can people still get COVID if they are vaccinated?

(A) Yes, while immunizations significantly reduce the risk for getting disease they are not 100% effective (Pfizer is about 95% effective, Moderna 94.1% effective and Johnson and Johnson about 66.3% effective).  As more people are vaccinated it will also help slow the spread further reducing risk that an individual will be infected.  Those who have received the vaccine and contract the COVID-19 virus are less likely to have severe symptoms.

(Q) Is there any information about the vaccine itself, the vaccination process or anything that you think people should be aware of

(A) As vaccine continues to come to Baker County, people should get whatever vaccine is available to them.  If they have concerns, read and educate themselves on the vaccine.  Getting vaccinated is one way for our communities to return to a sense of normalcy.  COVID-19 will not go away, but certainly we can each do our part to lower the spread and reduce transmission.

Baker County Residents that are 18 or over and interested in the COVID-19 Vaccine can sign up at www.bakercountycovid19.com or call 541-523-0015.  After signing up, the Baker County Health Department will call you to schedule your appointment when the vaccine becomes available for your age group.

As of yesterday, March 22^, 2021, the number of people vaccinated in our region were as follows:

Baker County – 7,043

Grant County – 1,325

Harney County – 1,665

Malheur County – 5,340

Union County – 5,426

Wallowa County – 2,020

Vaccine information per Oregon Country can be found at https://public.tableau.com/profile/oregon.health.authority.covid.19#!/vizhome/OregonCOVID-19VaccinationTrends/OregonCountyVaccinationTrends

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Elkhorn Media Group