Oregon officially surpassed a milestone on Wednesday as health officials administered 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, less than three months after the first dose was administered in December.
As of Wednesday, approximately 1,019,767 doses of vaccines have been administered in the state. More than 636,000 of the state’s 4.2 million residents received at least one dose as of Tuesday.
Oregon announced the news as it reported another 27 deaths due to COVID-19 and 276 new cases nationwide, bringing the overall death toll to 2,252 since the pandemic began.
Patrick Allen, director of the state health authority, said the vaccine milestone on Wednesday would not have been possible without local partnerships. “We deliver more than 22,000 doses of vaccine every day that will bring us to so many people at the end of this difficult journey,” he said in a statement.
The total number of cases continues to decline overall, and Jackson County on Wednesday had a double record of 47 (47) of the total number of cases than Multnomah County (26), which has more than three times the population.
The state is expected to announce new risk levels next week after the latest two months of case-positive data, which could lead to further mitigating guidelines for Multnomah County.
Where the new cases are by country: Baker (2), Benton (3), Clackamas (20), Clatsop (2), Columbia (3), Coos (24), Deschutes (10), Douglas (22), Grant (2), Harney (2), Jackson (47), Jefferson (5), Josephine (5), Klamath (2), Lane (15), Linn (4), Malheur (2), Marion (28), Multnomah (26), Polk (4), Tillamook (4), Umatilla (7), Union (10), Washington (25) and Yamhill (2).
Who died: State officials said they would release more information about the 27 people who later died.
The incidence of infections: On Wednesday, the state reported 601 new positive tests out of 27,038 tests performed, which equates to a 2.2% positivity rate. But government officials said the rate is artificially low because they have received a “large amount” of backward test data from the past two months, with about 99% of the results negative.
Who became infected: New confirmed or suspected infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (6); 10-19 (40); 20-29 (46); 30-39 (36); 40-49 (27); 50-59 (35); 60-69 (23); 70-79 (13); 80 and older (20).
Who is in the hospital: The state reported that 140 people were admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19 in Oregon, which is nine less than yesterday. There were 31 COVID-19 patients in intensive care (ICU) beds, two more than were in similar care on Tuesday.
Vaccines administered: Oregon administered 1,019,767 doses of first and second doses as of Wednesday. The state reported 22,346 new doses, although a breakdown of those administered Tuesday versus previous days was not given.
Since it started: Oregon reported 156,287 confirmed or suspected infections and 2,252 deaths, one of the lowest per capita numbers in the country. To date, the state has reported more than 3,787,438 laboratory reports of tests.
– Andrew Theen; [email protected]; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen