© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

White Bird Clinic Joins Lane County's COVID-19 Vax Effort

White Bird Clinic, Chris Hecht

To accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination effort, Lane County Public Health has partnered with three area healthcare providers. One of them is White Bird Clinic. The agency will help to vaccinate the rest of health care professionals in Phase 1A Group 1-- namely dentists.

Each week, Public Health will supply White Bird Medical with doses of Moderna vaccine. PeaceHealth and McKenzie-Willamette hospitals will provide doses of Pfizer to be administered at White Bird Dental Clinic.

Credit Tiffany Eckert
The Pfizer vaccine will be administered at White Bird Dental Clinic. In a separate space, White Bird Medical, doses of Moderna vaccine will be given.

Executive Coordinator Chris Hecht said they have a directive to get shots in the arms of oral health providers.    

“Dentists spend their entire day blasting air into people’s mouths while they work on them,” he explains. “And that’s pretty much the definition of aerosolizing. So they’re at great risk.”

Hecht said they expect to begin vaccinating fellow health care workers as early as next Wednesday. Over the last couple weeks, all 160 White Bird Clinic staff members have been vaccinated. 

Credit White Bird Clinic, Chris Hecht
Clinic staff member Alex Farmer gets the first vaccine at White Bird.

In order to move to Phase 1B in the COVID-19 vaccination plan, Lane County must prove to the state that Phase 1A Group 1 has been completed.

Health care professionals who have yet to be vaccinated and are interested in getting a shot at one of the White Bird vax sites should fill out a request form or call the vaccine hotline at 541-844-7736 to learn more and sign up.

Hecht said White Bird has seen an outpouring of volunteer offers from local clinicians interested in helping. Health care staff who would like to volunteer can visit http://bit.ly/wbc-volunteer to sign up.

In addition to White Bird, Oregon Medical Group and Eugene Pediatrics are joining in the effort to help vaccinate the rest of Group 1A in Lane County.

Copyright 2021 KLCC.

Tiffany joined the KLCC News team in 2007. She studied journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and worked in a variety of media including television, technical writing, photography and daily print news before moving to the Pacific Northwest.
Related Content