Some Oregon Health & Science University employees expressed concern this week as COVID-19 vaccines became available to all the institution’s workers and students on Sunday — including those who work from home.
One worker, who spoke with Street Roots on the condition of anonymity, noted the odd timing of the Jan. 3 email.
“While it might be a bit unusual to make this announcement on a weekend, we want to be sure that we make the best use of our clinic, use any available doses most efficiently and best use the efforts of the many individuals who have volunteered their time to provide this important service to our members,” stated the email sent to workers and “learners,” or students, at the university.
The Oregon Health Authority acknowledged on Tuesday, Jan. 5, that vaccine doses were being distributed to health care personnel who do not work on front lines at some hospitals, and it had asked hospitals to cease that practice, as first reported by The Lund Report.
“At first we thought these were isolated incidents, but now it’s clear this is a broader problem,” said Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen on Jan.5.
That same day, however, the agency issued a memorandum allowing all health care personnel to be eligible for vaccination at once during its Phase 1a Vaccination Sequencing plan, the initial stage of vaccinations in Oregon meant for frontline hospital, clinic, homecare and emergency workers across the state.
The Phase 1a Vaccination Sequencing plan, issued in December, identified four key groups who would be eligible to receive the vaccine before others in the state. The groups include health care personnel at hospitals, urgent care facilities, hospice programs, outpatient settings and other frontline settings.
The new guidance still does not clarify whether students, some of whom may be learning online or off campus, and work-from-home employees in administrative roles would be eligible for vaccination.
Oregon Health Authority relies on a definition of “health care personnel” that includes “persons not directly involved in patient care but who could be exposed to infectious agents that can be transmitted in the health care setting (e.g., clerical, dietary, environmental services, laundry, security, engineering and facilities management, administrative, billing and volunteer personnel).”
But nowhere are employees or students who may be working and learning remotely included.
“OHA encourages those administering vaccines to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are being administered efficiently and effectively. Anyone included in Phase 1a, Groups 1-4 are eligible for vaccines at this time. The most important priority right now is to get as many people in Phase 1a vaccinated as possible,” OHA spokesperson Delia Hernández told Street Roots in an email Thursday.
The shift was a cause for confusion for some workers employed at OHSU, as dialogue from an employee forum shared with Street Roots showed that some employees were questioning the move.
“I know some of you have been wondering whether you can donate your vaccine dose to an essential worker outside of OHSU, but there is no mechanism in place to do that,” stated an email sent to research employees Wednesday, encouraging them to sign up for their first vaccine dose.
Another spokesperson for the OHA, Timothy Heider, told Street Roots Friday that hospitals could vaccinate anyone eligible in Phase 1a regardless of where they work, but noted that transferring the vaccine from location to location posed difficulty for multiple reasons. For one, the vaccine doses are fragile and must be kept cold during transport. Hospitals must also notify the health authority so it can account for vaccine doses.
The email also stated the university is hoping to have all appointments for the first dose of the vaccination, which requires two doses, scheduled by Jan. 15 and the second dose by the end of February, according to an email sent to research employees. The university received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 15.
By Friday afternoon, OHSU — with more than 17,500 employees and almost 3,000 students according to its website — had received 19,250 vaccine doses and administered 14,068 doses.
OHSU did not respond to direct questions regarding the vaccination of students and work-from-home employees, but shared a statement: “We hear the mounting frustration from the community, and we have continued to offer to partner with the state and others to accelerate vaccination.”
According to the university, “additional actions” are currently underway to accelerate vaccinations in the area. OHSU will establish drive-through vaccination clinics for roughly 2,000 first responders and health workers with Oregon's Public Services & Care Provider Union, SEIU 503.
OHSU also plans to share its vaccine clinic facility with Central City Concern, which provides services to people experiencing homelessness, and administer vaccines to providers and staff members at drive-up sites in the area.
“Because we moved to quickly and efficiently vaccinate priority groups, we were then able to (begin) offering vaccinations to all employees and students with approval from OHA,” reads the statement.
Mounting confusion over who is currently eligible to receive the vaccine comes this week after the Oregon Health Authority convened its first meeting of the Vaccine Advisory Committee, which aims to help create a sequencing plan “focused on health equity to ensure the needs of systematically affected populations, including communities of color, tribal communities and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, are met,” according to the agency’s website.
As of this week, Oregon ranked 36th in the country in terms of vaccination efforts, with just 1.2% of the population having been vaccinated so far. The numbers fall short of the OHA’s initial goal to administer initial vaccine doses to 100,000 people before 2021.
Note: This article was updated on at 6:03 p.m. on Friday, January 8.
Correction: This article originally miscredited OPB with reporting aspects of this story first. It was in fact The Lund Report. Street Roots regrets the error.