Clinics for teenagers planned as pace of virus vaccinations slows

Clatsop County will begin holding clinics for teenagers who want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus starting next week.

The Pfizer vaccine will be administered at clinics in Astoria on May 15 and Seaside on May 22 to 16- and 17-year-olds and their families.

Pfizer has requested emergency approval of its vaccine for children 12 to 15. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to give authorization soon. If the vaccine is authorized, the county’s vaccine task force said it is prepared to vaccinate children 12 to 15 at the clinics as well.

The task force will continue Moderna vaccination clinics at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds and the old Seaside High School into June, but at a smaller scale.

The task force will focus on reaching people who have difficulty making or getting to appointments for vaccination. There are also plans for some smaller pop-up walk-in clinics, like one that took place at Jewell School on Friday.

People can fill out the vaccine survey on the county’s website or choose from a list of upcoming vaccine clinics listed on the website and sign up directly.

Vaccines are also available through pharmacies at Fred Meyer, Walmart, Costco and Safeway. The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is available through Providence Seaside Hospital and will be available at Columbia Memorial Hospital primary care clinics beginning Monday.

“We are starting to wind down the mass vaccination clinics because as we have less people coming into those clinics to get first doses, we don’t need to have the big clinics for the second doses,” said Chris Laman, the director of pharmacy and cancer center services at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, who is leading the county’s vaccine task force.

“We’re trying to reduce the barriers to people. So if they’re going to get health care, or if they’re in their supermarket, like Fred Meyer or Safeway or Walmart, they’ll be able to get vaccinated there. And then the task force is going to move into trying to be where people are at. And so in June, the clinics will be more like pop-up clinics.”

As of Friday, 30,202 doses have been administered in the county and 13,588 people were fully vaccinated. The county’s goal to reach herd immunity against the virus is vaccinating 27,533 people, or 70% of the population.

Laman said the number of first doses administered at each clinic has gone down dramatically.

“About a month ago we were giving 700 or so first doses at a clinic, and I think last night we were at about 150,” he said. “It’s been a little more than a week since we started allowing walk-ins because we’re trying to increase that uptake.

“The task force has been doing the best we can, but … we are — just like all the counties, and really the whole country — seeing a slowdown in the uptake in that kind of last 40% group. They’re a little more hesitant or a little more adamant that they’re not going to be getting shots. And so we’re trying to come up with ways to reduce barriers and make it easier for people to get shots.”

Margo Lalich, the county’s interim public health director, asks everyone she vaccinates what it means to them. She said there are benefits people often do not realize.

“Generally speaking, they’re fully protected, and it is a game changer in terms of whether or not they will have to quarantine once they’re exposed to COVID,” Lalich said. “They still want to be wearing their masks out and about in public. What it also means is if they’re in a household or a community where everybody is completely vaccinated, meaning they’ve got two doses and they’re two weeks post that second vaccination, they no longer need to be wearing that mask when they all come together.”

— The Astorian