County accuses OHA and Brown of discrimination
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners has lodged a formal complaint with Gov. Kate Brown’s office, charging the state with discrimination and inequities in the Oregon Health Authority’s vaccine administration system.
The latest figures show Umatilla County to be last among Oregon’s 36 counties in per capita vaccinations. Board Chairman George Murdock said that Umatilla County’s tally is 960, while similarly-sized Polk County has vaccinated more than 19-hundred per capita. He says you can’t give what you don’t have.
“This is by no means a problem that’s related to our ability to administer vaccines,” he said. “We’ve never capped our capacity to administer vaccines. We’re far from it.”
Murdock said Umatilla County isn’t the only county hurt by the state’s distribution system.
“Morrow County is right behind us (at 1,028) along with Malheur (at 1,096), and yet the three of us all have in common our high rate of infection and our diversity,” he said.
Murdock said that state officials show that equity is high on the agenda, but that doesn’t stand true when looking at vaccine distribution.
“This is an embarrassing and inexcusable contradiction,” the letter of complaint stated.
