Oregon health officials are currently reporting four cases of COVID-19 in individuals who have been completely vaccinated against the virus.
According to state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger, who told reporters at a briefing on Friday, the so-called “breakthrough case” is due to the lack of a completely effective vaccine against any disease. Of course.
“These breakthroughs are not unexpected,” said Sidelinger. “There is no vaccine that provides 100% protection, and clinical trials of both vaccines currently in use included breakthrough cases. In such cases, if participants were infected with COVID. Even the vaccine reduced the severity of the disease. “
These clinical trials show that about 95% of vaccinated people are not infected with COVID-19 and that vaccinated people have significantly milder symptoms than those who do not. ..
Oregon Health Department officials say two cases were reported in Yamhill County and two in Lane County. These are just four groundbreaking cases where more than 177,000 people have been completely vaccinated against the virus, according to state reports.
Oregon is one of the first states to report a breakthrough case in the United States. In most states, two weeks after the second vaccination, people are just beginning to fall into the “complete vaccination” category.
Still, Sidelinger said the vaccine would be the state’s most important tool in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
“More Oregons are vaccinated daily and existing vaccines offer unprecedented levels of efficacy,” said Sidelinger. “The quickest and most direct route to getting out of this pandemic is to get vaccinated while you are eligible.”
According to OHA director Patrick Allen, vaccination needs to be increased to about 25,000 people per day across the state to gain local immunity by the fall. Although the state has already achieved its goals on some days, the supply of vaccine doses is still far below the state’s capacity, Allen said.
He added that the state is slightly behind the expected timeline for immunizing teachers and educators throughout the state. Three weeks ago, OHA predicted that by this point it would allocate 59% of the vaccine dose needed to educators, but that’s only about 50%, Allen said.
The positive news is that on Friday, Sidelinger returned to levels of daily viral infections that the state hadn’t seen since fall, allowing several counties throughout the state to resume some operations for the first time in months. reported.
“These reductions are evidence of the actions taken by all Oregons to delay the spread of COVID-19,” Sidelinger said.
Increased availability of vaccines
The state is also getting more help in the competition to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. Allen said Friday that the state’s weekly dose allocation would increase from the previously announced weekly 75,000 to about 82,000 doses.
Selected pharmacies throughout the state received the vaccine and began to administer it. According to Stephen Certo, who directs the pharmacy operations of Safeway and Albertsons stores in Oregon, the set of pharmacies includes more than 100 Safeway and Albertsons locations throughout the state.
“We are excited to be part of it as a company and we are now able to provide vaccines to the communities we serve, so we are really excited,” Celt said. I said on friday.
Some Costco and Helsmart pharmacies are also vaccinated and will begin scheduling appointments. From February 15th, OHA’s Allen confirmed that individuals over the age of 75 are eligible for the vaccine.
The expected increase in weekly doses in the state is a good sign, but the effects are not immediate.
“That’s good news, but we know that those doses are still months away,” Allen said.
Moreover, even a very small number of groundbreaking cases indicate that Oregons must remain vigilant against the virus, even if they are completely vaccinated against the virus. He pointed out the surge in what the state would see in the spring and summer, as some activities began to resume after the first blockade of the pandemic.
“I think we all need to remember that period and remind ourselves that things aren’t going back as they used to be,” Allen said. “We will need to keep wearing masks to stay socially distant.”
