County’s vaccine stocks run dry
By Terry Murry on Monday, January 11th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Umatilla County is officially out of COVID-19 vaccine. Board of Commissioners Chairman George Murdock said the county gave out a total of 600 doses late last week, and Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston exhausted its supply of 500 doses by Saturday. He said St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton has not received any doses for “several weeks.”
“I know there’s been some concern about vaccine that is sitting idle,” he said. “That is not the case in Umatilla County. We simply don’t have any.”
The Moderna vaccine was the only one being shipped to Umatilla County, because the Pfizer vaccine requires storage in extreme cold. Last week, the county notified the Oregon Health Authority it now has the ability to work with the Pfizer vaccine as well.
“We have put into place our new freezer that could handle Pfizer vaccine, but we don’t have any Pfizer either,” he said.
