A lot has changed since last month’s update. As we’d hoped, the epidemic curve in the Portland region has continued to improve. Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties are all being reclassified into the High Risk category today. Keep in mind that with 194.6 cases per 100k residents, we barely made the cutoff. A slight increase in cases would shut things down again. That said, we can look forward to a bit of reopening (maybe after the blizzard passes).
Remember that reopening has unintended consequences. All those open doors of restaurants, gyms, and other businesses mean more opportunities for people to gather, and pass the virus. We need to be extra diligent if we are to keep pushing transmission rates down. We are still at High Risk, and we know the new, more transmissible UK variant is already circulating here. We should assume that the interactions we previously felt safe doing are somewhat riskier now Since we’ve been in Extreme Risk since these categories were introduced, here’s a refresher on what’s changing.
Vaccination
Over 10% of Oregon’s population has now received at least one vaccine dose. Oregon is now administering an average of 17,000 doses per day, and more supplies are expected to boost that number in the coming weeks.
We strongly recommend immunization against COVID-19 for everyone. There are no contraindications to the currently available vaccines. These vaccines are safe and effective. All Baskin Clinic employees have already received both doses. If you have questions about them, we are more than happy to help you find the answers.
In case you’re wondering about how to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon:
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Ages 80 and up are eligible for appointments NOW.
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Ages 75 and up are eligible for appointments starting on February 15th.
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Ages 70 and up are eligible for appointments starting on February 22nd.
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Ages 65 and up are eligible for appointments starting on March 1st.
This vaccine is free, but that doesn’t mean getting it will be effortless. There are at least 5 websites we’re aware of that offer vaccination scheduling for the Oregon side of the Portland-Vancouver metro area. We recommend trying each of these every day, perhaps even a couple times a day, until you get your first dose scheduled. Once you get the first one, you’ll be able to schedule your second appointment.
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To access the tool that will enable you to attempt to register for appointments at the Oregon Convention Center mass vaccination clinic, click here https://covidvaccine.oregon.
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To access the OHSU page for the drive thru clinic at the Portland Airport, click here https://ohsu.ca1.qualtrics.
com/jfe/form/SV_ 7aLjjdddqJmDPzU -
To try to make an appointment with a pharmacy directly supplied by the federal government, try these
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If you live or work in Clark County, WA, all the resources are compiled at https://clark.wa.gov/public-
health/covid-19-vaccine
Variants and vaccines
In the course of infecting a person, a virus makes trillions of copies of itself. There are often typos (mutations) in the process, but they are usually meaningless. Rarely, those mutations produce meaningful changes in the way the virus infects the host. Even more rarely, the mutations confer an evolutionary advantage to the new virus that enables it to outcompete the original version, thus a new variant emerges. And so it goes.
This is what we’ve been observing around the world as variants emerge, become dominant in a region, and then spread. As long as the virus infects humans, this will continue. But it will occur slower if we can reduce the number of infections. This is yet another reason why vaccination is so important, even for people who have recovered from COVID-19. Acquiring immunity through vaccination rather than infection and recovery can reduce the opportunities for the virus to evolve and evade our protection.
For example, take Manaus, Brazil (population 2 million). Research indicates that 76 percent of the city was infected last year, a level thought to be sufficient for achieving herd immunity. Despite that, a new outbreak of the virus started in December, and has gone on to overwhelm their health care system. It could be that people’s natural immunity waned over time. It could be that the virus in the area has evolved to bypass acquired immunity. It could be something else. For more information, read this.
What we do know is that the vaccines approved (Pfizer and Moderna) or awaiting approval (Johnson & Johnson) in the US are all effective in preventing severe disease against the major variants around the world. But the vaccines may need to be updated with boosters in the future.
And now, time for something completely different. We caution you to not watch this video while drinking milk. It somehow gets funnier with every viewing.
That’s all for meow.
Take care,
Baskin Clinic