Discovery of a highly concerning new COVID-19 variant that is spreading across the globe shifted Southeast Portland resident Peter Cornell into high gear.
It’s time for him to get his booster.
So the 44-year-old scoured the internet for an appointment Monday -- the same day President Biden urged all unvaccinated Americans to promptly get vaccinated and all fully vaccinated adults to immediately get their boosters, in light of omicron’s advance across the planet.
After two hours looking online, Cornell found nothing in the near future. He also walked into two nearby pharmacies, only to be turned away because of lack of vaccine or available staff to administer a shot that day.
“I couldn’t find anything until more than two weeks out,” Cornell said. “Maybe that’s reasonable, maybe that’s not. ... I’m eager to get it done faster than that.”
Like many area residents, Cornell had hit a brick wall. He’d also experienced firsthand the cold, hard truth: After months of vaccine surplus in Oregon and across the nation, vaccines have suddenly become scarce in some parts of the state. The current situation marks a dramatic shift from the late spring, summer and early fall, when Oregon threw away more than 400,000 unused spoiled or expired doses, largely due to lack of demand.
“We acknowledge that doses may be challenging to find right now,” Oregon Health Authority spokesperson Erica Heartquist said in an email Tuesday.
Three days earlier, the authority didn’t indicate any problems in a tweet: “Sites around Oregon are ready to accommodate large numbers of people seeking #COVID19 vaccinations. Offering all three COVID-19 vaccines, these sites are open to everyone eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine or booster.”
Heartquist Tuesday acknowledged there currently isn’t enough vaccine in the state to meet demand, but the authority is “confident” there will be more doses arriving from federal officials to meet Oregon’s needs. She said the agency is working to remedy shortages in some areas of the state by re-distributing doses to areas with higher demand.
She said officials “request patience from Oregonians.”
The clamor is intense, especially for boosters.
Since September, Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots have been authorized for people 65 and older and adults with high-risk jobs or underlying health conditions that put them at high risk for severe COVID-19, six months after receiving their last shot. In October, the federal government expanded its authorization to include Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters. Federal officials OK’d boosters for anyone 18 and older less than two weeks ago – significantly upping interest in additional shots.
So far more than 670,000 -- or about 25% of fully vaccinated Oregonians -- have received booster shots or third doses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency ranks Oregon 17th in the nation for most residents per capita vaccinated with an additional shot. Nationwide, about 21% of the fully vaccinated population has received an extra shot so far.
Oregonians seeking booster shots outnumbered those seeking to get vaccinated for the first time by more than four to one, officials reported Tuesday. About 1,750 residents sought their first shots, compared to about 7,700 fully vaccinated residents receiving a booster shot. The numbers likely would be higher if it were easier to find vaccine.
Officials at the Oregon Health Authority say the reasons for the temporary shortage are varied. A big one is a dearth of available medical personnel to administer vaccines. Some are tied up treating COVID-19 patients from the latest surge. At more than 400 hospitalized Tuesday, they’re still taxing the system, officials said. Others are busy administering flu shots, pediatric COVID-19 shots or consumed with their regular duties. Oregon in November offered to pay pharmacies $35 for every COVID-19 shot they administer in an effort to get them to increase staff devoted to the task.
State health officials indicate another reason some residents are finding it difficult to get their shots is uneven demand across the state. While the desire to get boosted in the Portland area is strong, it’s much weaker in some other corners of the state. A drive-through vaccination clinic in Morrow County reportedly had no line Tuesday and the local pharmacy in Boardman, the biggest population center in the sparsely populated county, says there’s no wait for walk-ins.
Meanwhile, virtually every Portland area pharmacy in recent internet searches was all booked up.
“OHA is working with providers to move doses when possible to address dose availability needs,” Heartquist said.
Heartquist said the authority has received 100% of its allocations from the federal government. That was more than 80,000 adult doses this past week. State officials also asked for and received an additional 15,000 doses this month, she said.
Another significant help should be the rollout of the state’s “high volume” vaccination sites that offer pediatric doses, adult first and second doses and boosters. As of Tuesday, half a dozen sites were up and running. That includes one in the Portland area, at Tektronix’s Beaverton campus. In all, 14 sites will open by Dec. 12. The sites are designed to serve walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis.
That’s how Ken Hood ultimately got his booster shot Tuesday.
The Tualatin resident said he spent a few hours over the past week searching the internet for an appointment, without success. Like many who’ve used the state’s vaccine finder, getvaccinated.oregon.gov, or the federal government’s finder, vaccines.gov, Hood was directed to pharmacies and medical clinics that offer vaccinations but don’t actually have appointments available.
That only became apparent after he clicked through the individual websites, a time-consuming, frustrating chore.
“It would indicate places that seemed to have availability, and then at the end, the availability went away,” Hood said.
He then decided to try showing up to a pharmacy without an appointment and was denied, but saw a sign for the Tektronix vaccination site. Although there was a line stretching out the door Tuesday morning, after a 35-minute wait, it was his turn. Hood was so pleased with his find that he broadcast it in a Facebook post.
Cornell, the Southeast Portland man who struggled to find a booster appointment Monday, finally got lucky Tuesday: He scored an appointment for early next week.
He said it shouldn’t have been so tough. He wants a booster to protect himself and those around him, including his dad who is immunocompromised, his two children who are under 5 and too young to get vaccinated, and society as a whole.
“I’m lucky I have a very flexible job that allows me to do that,” Cornell said of the hours he spent finding an appointment. “I can think of a thousand professions where that would just not work at all.”
-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
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