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Oregon’s Clatsop County Expands Vaccination Program

By Joanne Rideout.

Clatsop County continues to expand COVID-19 vaccinations for county residents in a number of different demographics

People of any age who don’t have a vaccine yet can still sign up for a shot by completing the survey on the county’s website. Officials continue to prioritize vaccinations by age, so olde people get their shots first. But they’re making significant inroads in getting older residents vaccinated, and are expanding the opportunity for a vaccine to the next younger demographic.

Chris Laman is the Clatsop County vaccine task force incident commander. He said this week a slightly younger age group will be able to access shot appointments.

“We move to folks in the 45-64 age group who have preexisting conditions or other conditions that make them a high risk.”

Laman said this week the county will be giving a lot of shots, more than previous weeks.

“So, on Tuesday, 600 doses in Seaside at the old high school. Eight hundred Thursday at the fairgrounds in Astoria. Then on Saturday morning we’re having a big event at the Convention Center in Seaside where we’re going to be giving 1,000 doses. So 2,400 people in the county will get first doses of the vaccine next week.”

The county continues to work with seafood processors and agricultural workers to get people in those jobs vaccinated.

Laman also reached out to county business owners who want to get their employees vaccinated, even if they are not strictly classified as front line or essential workers.

“If there are business owners who are interested in getting the people in their business registered, they can reach out at 503-325-8500, ext. 2. We just want to get as many workers in the community as possible vaccinated. It will streamline the process for their staff if they get them registered through this method.”

As the county moves into giving more and more people their second doses of the two-shot Moderna vaccine regimen, Laman assured people that while they might have a greater reaction to their second shot in terms of developing symptoms such as fever and chills, he said that’s not a sign that you’re getting sick. It means the vaccine is doing its job to protect you against COVID-19.