Oregon grocery and other front-line workers leveled a sharp rebuke on Monday against Gov. Kate Brown for making them wait until May to become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in the state’s rollout.
The concerns come as Oregon prepares to receive an ever-swelling supply of vaccines that will boost its weekly allotment from about 120,000 expected first doses next week to potentially more than 200,000 doses a week by the end of March, as the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine joins the supply lines.
The news -- deep concerns among front-line workers amid the growing supplies -- underscores the difficulty of creating a vaccination program that makes everyone happy.
Even at increased shipment levels, the expected vaccine doses are insufficient in the short term for Oregon’s population of 4.2 million people. Yet various demographic and economic groups are jostling for priority in the line, each voicing their own arguments.
Grocery employees have worked throughout the year-long pandemic to stock shelves, unload freight and ring up groceries, interacting with hundreds of people a day. Yet even as vaccine supplies grow, Oregon officials have assigned front-line workers to the back of the queue in a way that runs contrary to recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Kate Brown’s decision to ignore the CDC ... is a travesty and it puts all Oregonians at risk,” said Dan Clay, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 555, which represents about 25,000 workers in Oregon. Clay made his comments Monday to the House Subcommittee on COVID-19.
The CDC recommended states provide the vaccine first to health care workers and long-term care residents and then to a second phase that includes people 75 and older and front-line essential workers, such as grocery store employees, agricultural workers and public transit workers. Per CDC recommendations, the third phase is people 65 to 74 years old, people 16 to 64 with underlying medical conditions and other essential workers.
Instead, Oregon chose to vaccinate public K-12 school teachers and senior citizens after health care workers and long-term residents. This week, Oregon made people age 65 to 69 eligible for vaccines, the final step of its rollout to seniors that started three weeks ago when it made people 80 and above eligible.
The next part of the state’s so-called 1b group to become eligible by March 29 includes adults ages 45-64 with at least one underlying chronic condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, and many vulnerable front-line workers, including seafood industry workers, agricultural and food processing workers and wildland firefighters.
Grocery store workers will have to wait longer, unless they fall into any of the above categories. They’ll become eligible by May 1, when the state rolls the vaccine out to more front-line workers and adults age 16 to 44 with chronic conditions.
As Clay put it, a 45-year-old stock market day trader who works from home but has a body mass index classified as obese will get a vaccination before grocery store workers who make contact with many more people.
By June 1, the state aims to open vaccinations to everyone age 45 and older. The general population age 16 and older would be eligible by July 1. Vaccines have not been approved for children under 16.
Governor Values Grocery Workers
In a statement to The Lund Report, Brown spokesman Charles Boyle said the governor appreciates and values grocery store workers. Boyle noted grocery workers age 45 to 64 with underlying health conditions will become eligible for vaccinations on March 29.
“Because Oregonians with underlying health conditions are more at risk to COVID-19 than others, it was critical to ensure they could be vaccinated as soon as possible,” Boyle said. “These are tough decisions, and scarce vaccine supplies mean we can’t vaccinate everyone at once. But, as supplies from the federal government increase, all Oregonians who want a vaccine will be able to get one.”
Boyle also said Brown has put health and safety workplace protections in place for workers on the front lines of the pandemic, such as distancing, masks and sanitation using anti-viral wipes.
But workers who testified Monday spoke of ongoing dangers at their jobs, including customers who violate distancing and mask rules.
“It’s very important that we are moved ahead before May,” said Melody Gramley, a grocery worker and UFCW union member. “We have customers that have no regard to the mask regulations.”
Another grocery worker, James DeLong, said: “We fear for our health and safety and the safety of our family and fellow grocery store workers. It is never-ending stress.”
Vaccine Doses Surge
On the vaccine supply front, Oregon will get an initial shipment of about 34,000 doses from the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Dave Baden, chief financial officer for the Oregon Health Authority, told the committee. That vaccine requires just one dose, while the other two vaccines -- from manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer -- require two doses spaced several weeks apart for each person. Baden said the state is putting orders in today to get shipments out as fast as possible.
Providers in Oregon have administered 986,000 doses as of Monday, a figure that Baden expected to hit one million soon. Oregon gave more than 32,000 doses on Friday and 29,000 doses on Thursday,
The increased doses and new eligibility groups mean that Oregon will need to start averaging about 17,000 first doses a day to keep pace with the supplies this month, Baden said.
So far, Oregon has vaccinated with at least one dose more than half of residents 80 and older, 31% of people 70 to 79 and 16% of people 60 to 69. The work of vaccinating seniors, Baden said, is “really what March is all about.”
Even so, securing a vaccination appointment remains a challenge, especially for seniors who must navigate providers and look for the best option to get doses.
“I do want to put out a message of hope and a message that the vaccine supply is increasing and I think that we can look at a time frame where we will have supply to meet the demand and to more than meet the demand as we get into May,” Baden said
Other Workers Frustrated, Fearful
Oregon prioritized agricultural workers as part of its focus on equity to keep immigrant and seasonal farm workers safe. To do this work, the Oregon Health Authority is teaming up with community groups and providers who serve the immigrant community, officials said.
Lori Kelley, senior director of quality at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, urged lawmakers to speed up the vaccination of agricultural workers.
Kelley said her organization, which works throughout Oregon and Washington, has found “very little vaccine hesitancy” among farm workers. Kelley said the workers often sleep four to six to a room “head to toe.” When one of them becomes ill, they all miss work.
Kelley said it’s “crazy” to leave them unvaccinated until the end of March, as the state’s current schedule dictates.
Government employees have concerns too. Aaron Arnston, a member and chief steward of the Service Employees International Union, works at the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services office in Bend. A month ago, he contracted COVID-19. Although recovering nicely, he said, risks remain for the employees as they work with the public in offices and do road tests for applicants.
“May 1 is a long time away for people that are seeing hundreds of people a day,” he said.
You can reach Ben Botkin at [email protected] or via Twitter @BenBotkin1.
