Oregon, Washington seniors next in line for COVID-19 vaccine

PORTLAND, Ore. — Long-term care facilities, the hardest hit in the pandemic, will be some of the first to receive COVID-19 vaccinations this month.

Next week, the Oregon Health Authority said long-term care facilities will receive their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and start immunizations. There are 535 registered assisted living and residential care communities in Oregon, according to 2019 data, with over 20,000 residents.

In Vancouver, the first COVID-19 vaccines were given to veterans living at the Vancouver Community Living Center. Washington expects to start vaccinations at long term care facilities on December 28th.

READ MORE | COVID-19 vaccine options, access, experience will improve in 2021, experts say

"Immunization will also enable communities to facilitate more in-person visits between residents and loved ones, though infection prevention precautions will likely stay in place throughout the year," said a spokesperson for the Oregon Health Care Association, which advocates for quality long term care.

On Monday, Marquise Companies tells KATU News it will start vaccinating residents and staff at three of its long term care facilities. President and CEO Phil Fogg Jr. said the company's Consonus Healthcare Pharmacy received the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday.

"We have mobile vaccination units we’re transporting (the vaccines)," said Phill Fogg Jr.

RELATED | Some states say Pfizer vaccine allotments cut for next week

Fogg said it will be a challenge to distribute because the Pfizer vaccine must be kept in extremely cold temperatures and, once a dilutant is added, must be administered within six hours.

"You’ve got to have all the paperwork done. The consent forms, all the information for reporting to the CDC. All that has to be done before you get there because when you get there you have to focus on the vaccination process. It’s very different from what you and I experience when we go in for our annual flu vaccine," Fogg said.

By February, Fogg hopes to have all of Marquise Companies' staff and residents vaccinated, but Fogg estimates it will take much longer to complete vaccinations at long term care facilities in the state.

CONTINUING COVERAGE | The Coronavirus Pandemic

The OHCA estimates vaccinations won't be completed until March 1st or early spring.

Oregon Health Care Association statement:

The recommendation from the CDC to vaccinate long term care workers and residents first was very encouraging. We are pleased that Governor Brown and the Oregon Health Authority are following federal recommendations to protect Oregonians who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 by including them in the first wave of vaccinations in phase 1a. We are hopeful that most of the long term care workforce and residents will be vaccinated by March 1, ideally, or early spring. The vaccine will impact mortality rates in older adults so the sooner the vaccines can be provided, the greater the impact will be on reducing those rates. Immunization will also enable communities to facilitate more in-person visits between residents and loved ones, though infection prevention precautions will likely stay in place throughout the year.