Klamath County seeks to complete Phase 1-A vaccine recipients

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Klamath County Public Health (KCPH), Sky Lakes Medical Center (SLMC), and other healthcare agencies are working together to complete service to individuals within the Phase 1-A groups for COVID-19 vaccination.

“There are about 400,000 people in Phase1-A statewide,” said SLMC Vice President of Medical Affairs, Grant Niskanen, MD. “We must serve these people before moving into the next phase of vaccine delivery.”

KCPH Director Jennifer Little stressed that individuals not in Phase 1-A are requested to wait patiently for their turn. “As a county, we have to be able to attest to serving those in Phase 1A before we can move on to phase 1B. We’ve been doing a great job thus far, and we believe we are getting close to meeting the mark in Klamath. We’ve been conducting outreach to the various 1A groups, and now it’s time for a final push and with a call to the public to serve those individuals.”

An online tool to determine eligibility is available at https://covidvaccine.oregon.gov/.

The Oregon Health Authority has defined Phase 1-A groups as:

Group 1

• Hospital staff with frontline patient care responsibilities

• Urgent care

• Skilled nursing and memory care facility healthcare personnel and residents

• Tribal health programs

• Emergency medical services (EMS) providers and other first responders

• All health care interpreters and traditional health care workers within any setting within Phase 1-A

Group 2

• Other long-term care facilities, including all paid and unpaid HCP, all staff and contractors, including residents who meet the age requirements of:

  • Residential care facilities

  • Adult foster care

  • Group homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

  • Other similar congregate care sites

• Hospice programs

• Mobile crisis care and related services

• Individuals working in a correctional setting

Group 3

• Healthcare personnel in outpatient settings serving specific high-risk groups

• Day treatment services

• Non-emergency medical transport

• Paid or unpaid caregivers (including parents or foster parents) of medically fragile children or adults who live at home

• Adults and age-eligible children who have a medical condition or disability who receive services in their homes

Group 4

• All other outpatient healthcare personnel

• Other healthcare personnel who provide direct service to people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and other high-risk populations

• Other public health settings, such as healthcare personnel serving WIC, or community-based organizations with direct or indirect exposures

Individuals in these groups must be served prior to opening vaccination opportunities for the next priority groups.

Those who fit into any of the above categories should call 1-833-606-4370 to schedule vaccination.

“We need to keep the phone lines open for those who need to schedule. There is not a vaccine registry and scheduling outside of Phase 1-A will not happen at this time. The limited doses we have in the community need to go towards those in Phase 1A. People who are not in the groups being served have other opportunities to be informed,” said Dr. Niskanen.

Gov. Kate Brown indicated on Jan. 15 that beginning Jan. 25 Pre-Kindergarten through high school educators will be the next priority group, followed by those 80 and older on Feb. 8.

To subscribe to email vaccine updates, send a message to vaccines@klamathcounty.org. Those without access to email may call the vaccine update number at 541.885.6753. Updates will also be shared with newspaper, radio, and television media outlets.