More COVID-19 vaccines will be available to Lane County residents starting Friday. The Oregon Health Authority will open a walk-in clinic at the Peachealth Riverbend Annex in Springfield.
Lane County COVID-19 Response Incident Commander Steve Adams said demand for booster shots has been high and it’s been challenging to meet the demand.
“This will be a walk-in. OHA has indicated that they prefer not to do appointments,” Adams said. “So, we do anticipate the first few days are going to be quite busy. They are going to operate Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 7 pm and then on Sundays they will be operating from 11-4 pm.”
The OHA clinics will continue through the end of January. They’ll offer Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson primary and booster doses. Lane County Public Health will continue to operate its clinics, including at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, which are appointment only.
Adams said 146,000 people in Lane County have been vaccinated against COVID-19 but not yet boosted.
He said public health has been focused on pediatric vaccine clinics for the past month. Adams said just over 27% of the county’s 5-11 year-olds have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 pediatric vaccine. He said for 12-15 year-olds that rate is about 40%.
“We continue to see kids coming forward for a shot and I think that will continue through the holiday period,” Adams said. “So, my sense is that we’re going to be getting pretty close to the vaccination levels that you’re seeing for 12-15 year olds for the first part of 2022.”
Adams said it’s hard to tell if the arrival of the omicron variant in Oregon has increased demand for vaccines. But the county is approaching a 70% vaccination rate for the entire population. As of Wednesday, that rate was at 69.6%
Copyright 2021 KLCC.
