Update Feb 7: Sign-up tool for Portland metro mass Covid-19 vaccine clinics expecting to open registration Monday at 9 a.m. for this week's slots
Seniors 80 years and older become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations beginning Monday, Feb. 8, even as health officials warn most people won’t be able to get their vaccine until supplies increase.
The Oregon Health Authority has allocated about 17,000 doses to the Portland Metro region’s health system collaborative to administer at next week’s mass vaccination clinics, located at the Oregon Convention Center and the Portland International Airport. Those doses are to be divided among seniors ages 80 and older, people identified in Phase 1A who have not yet received a vaccine, as well as educators, who became eligible Jan. 25.
While the Oregon Convention Center is the primary location for vaccinations, people with mobility concerns and seniors who would be best served in a vehicle may be directed to a drive-through clinic at the Portland International Airport.
The web link covidvaccine.oregon.gov is the portal to register for both mass vaccine clinics. Seniors and any others who need help navigating the tool can dial 2-1-1.
People who don’t have internet access or a smartphone, may get a family member, friend or neighbor, or reach out to a community or faith group they are part of to register for them.
The sign-up tool is only available in English and does not allow an applicant to use Google Translate. People who read or speak a language other than English can dial 2-1-1 for interpreter support.
Various agencies have also created video tutorials to support people who can’t navigate the English tool:
The state receives all its vaccine doses from the federal government. The Oregon Health Authority then allocates those doses based on the Governor’s prioritizations. A small number of the vaccines are allotted to counties, which, as the Local Public Health Authority, use those doses to reach people in their community at highest risk of infection, serious illness and death.
Multnomah County is expecting about 1,600 doses next week to begin vaccinating seniors and those remaining in Phase 1A and will continue to work with HealthShare, CareOregon and nonprofit community partners to hold invitation-only clinics for seniors and those in Phase 1A from communities at highest risk of disease due to exposure to structural racism.
In Multnomah County—as in the state—those are Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islanders, who have been hospitalized and who have died at 3 or more times the rate of non-Hispanic Whites. They are immigrant residents and people who speak a language other than English at home, who have in some weeks comprised as much as 50 percent of Multnomah County’s new COVID-19 cases.
“We don’t have enough vaccine for everyone right now,” said Public Health Director Jessica Guernsey. “So it is our moral obligation and our duty to prioritize those people who are at greatest risk.”
