Feds order Oregon to open vaccine eligibility to all by May 1

"If we do this together, by July the 4th, there is a good chance you, your family and friends can get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day," he said.

Biden said Americans could "not only mark our independence as a nation but we begin to mark our independence from this virus."

Shortly after Biden's announcement, Gov. Kate Brown said the state would stick with its long-planned phased eligibility that would not match Biden's plan until July 1.

While praising the president's "audacious" timetable, Brown and Oregon health officials said the state couldn't commit to dismantling its priority system until there were guarantees additional vaccine would be sent to the states.

"We know the previous administration made previous announcements it was unable to fill," Allen said.

Both Brown and Allen had praised Biden as a more trustworthy supplier than under the administration of President Donald Trump. Brown in January had briefly opened up eligibility after a promise from Trump health officials that a new surge of supply was on the way. Two days later, she had to reverse her decision and put limits back in place.

Allen said after Biden's announcement that the state would need as much as double the 200,000 doses it was receiving per week in order to meet the May 1 goal without making the already difficult availability of shots even tougher on residents. He revised his estimate and said that it could perhaps be done with 300,000 doses per week.

On Wednesday, Allen told the COVID-19 subcommittee that the state was told its federal allotment of vaccine could be impacted if it did not follow Biden's mandate.

"It's a binding order," Allen said.

The directive was contained in a Department of Health and Human Services letter to states issued Wednesday.

Acting HHS Secretary Norris Cochran told states that the prioritization some had instituted in the early months after the vaccine became first available in December were no longer necessary.

"Given substantial increases in the supply of vaccines, it is appropriate to transition beyond priority groups," Cochran said.

Allen said health officials are optimistic that there would be a large increase in shipments of the three vaccines: the two-shot version by Pfizer and Moderna, and the recently introduced one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 

Allen did not supply any specific numbers as to what the state might receive. He said that while eligibility would be open, the state would still try to control availability to reach the most vulnerable left on the priority list.

One option is to move up the dates of the next two priority groups. 

Oregon is currently limiting shots to health workers, residents of nursing homes, educators and daycare workers, and most recently, all residents age 65 and older as of March 1.

Brown spokesman Charles Boyle said Wednesday afternoon that the state would work to integrate Biden's directive with the availability prioritization already in place.

"We look forward to partnering with the federal government to ensure that Oregon and our local health partners have the vaccine supplies and federal support necessary to implement this directive," Boyle said. We are following up with the administration for more specifics about when vaccine shipments to states will increase, but in a briefing with governors earlier this week, it was clear the White House has worked hard to secure additional vaccine supplies for states in the coming weeks."

Even with the federal directive on eligibility, Allen and Brown's office said the state retained control over where the actual vaccine goes.

"We will continue to center equity in all of our vaccine distribution efforts, whether that means ensuring  that seniors, people with underlying conditions, frontline workers, and the Oregonians most vulnerable to COVID-19 have the opportunity for  vaccinations  prior to May 1––or after May 1, working with local health partners to ensure these priority groups continue to have access to appointments," Boyle said.

The next eligible group can seek shots March 29. The group of about 530,000 people includes adults age 45, and older with specific medical issues, pregnant women age 16 and older, agricultural and other food processing workers, homeless people, residents of low-income housing, those displaced by last year's wildfires and wildland firefighters.

Under its phased priority plan, another group of about 550,000 people would be eligible on May 1, the day Biden set for lifting all eligibility requirements for adults.

Brown on that date planned to extend the vaccine sign-ups to front-line workers (those who deal daily with the public), those living in multigenerational households, and those age 16-44 with certain medical conditions.

On June 1, everyone age 45 and older would have been eligible. On July 1, all adults would have been able to seek shots. There is currently no vaccine approved for children under 16.