The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has updated its COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include University of Portland employees, effective Monday, April 5. All UP employees, faculty and staff, are considered categorically as front-line workers as defined by the CDC, regardless of if they’re on-campus full time or working from home. Employees need not wait until April 5 to schedule their appointments—if you’re able to find availability, you may schedule now for an appointment on or after April 5.
There are many resources available to schedule a vaccine appointment. The primary organization administering vaccines is OHA, and anyone interested in getting a vaccine should first set up a profile on GetVaccinatedOregon.gov. OHA has an informative FAQ page for the Get Vaccinated Oregon initiative. OHSU is offering appointments for their drive-through vaccine clinics at Portland International Airport. Check with your insurance provider or primary care physician, as well.
Listed below are pharmacy resources where you can sign up for an appointment as they become available. Please note that while many pharmacies are currently booked, you can continue to check back as vaccine supply increases and more appointments become available:
At this time, UP is not offering vaccines on-site. But the Vaccine Task Force is exploring the possibility of being able to host a vaccine fair in the future.
Employees who complete their vaccinations are encouraged to report their status online. Although currently UP is not requiring employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine, both the Oregon Health Authority and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasize that the vaccine is safe and effective, and that a vaccinated population is a critical step towards a return to normalcy. If you have questions about the vaccines, please refer to the OHA and CDC websites.
There have been several changes in the vaccination roll-out in Oregon this past week. The Oregon Health Authority has transitioned to a new online platform for securing appointments.
There’s also a new FAQ available to answer questions about eligibility and making vaccination appointments. You can now complete the eligibility form to secure a spot, and will receive a phone call once appointments are available. Appointments are also available through OHSU’s website for appointments at the PDX and Hillsboro Stadium drive-through clinics.
Additionally, appointments are now readily available through chain pharmacies like Safeway/Albertsons and Costco.
And perhaps the best news of all is the new timeline for eligibility.
No later than May 1, 2021, members of colleges and universities will be eligible for vaccination. We look forward to the time when we can all return to campus together in the fall, and know that vaccinations are an important pathway to that return. In the meantime, stay vigilant: wear masks, maintain social distancing, wash your hands, and limit travel.
The Vaccination Task Force continues our work to ensure communication with those in our campus community who are eligible for the vaccine. We are happy to welcome student representatives onto the team: Jillian Maher, Chivon Ou, Sage Taylor and Allyson Wong.
Those who are eligible for vaccination have several options to schedule appointments. Appointments at the Oregon Convention Center Mass Vaccination Clinic can be made at https://covidvaccine.oregon.gov/ through the Vaccine Information Tool, and appointments through OHSU can be made at https://www.ohsu.edu/health/covid-19-vaccines-information-and-appointments for the drive-through vaccination clinic at the Portland Airport Parking Lot. Additional resources, including scheduling by phone, can be attained by dialing the 211 information line anywhere in the state of Oregon.
We continue the work of planning for the in-person return to fall semester, and will provide ongoing updates. In the meantime, regardless of your own vaccination status, remember to wear a mask, maintain social distancing, wash your hands, and adhere to the Carbon Health surveillance testing protocols.
The timeline of creating and disseminating a vaccine for a novel coronavirus has been truly a remarkable feat. In less than one year, every step of standard vaccination development has been completed by multiple pharmaceutical companies, two have been approved by the FDA, and we are now rolling out the most complex mass-vaccination distribution plan in history.
The roll-out of the distribution has been slow, confusing, and frustrating. But it is also an incredible testament to the potential of collaboration, partnership, and hope. In Portland, four very different health systems: Kaiser, OHSU, Providence and Legacy, have partnered together to create one mass-vaccination clinic at the Oregon Convention Center. Throughout Oregon, 36 different county health departments are working in their communities to get the vaccine to those most in need as quickly as possible.
As those in our University of Portland community become eligible to receive the vaccine, we will be providing information and guidance for how to schedule appointments. Please visit this site often; we will continue to post resources and field questions.
Information is critical to the effort to reach herd immunity and return to treasured face-to-face campus community. Answers to questions about how the vaccines have been developed and how the vaccines work can be found in these resources from Multnomah County Health Department.
We look forward to supporting our community through this journey and wish you all health and wellness.
The Vaccination Task Force
Casey Shillam
Andrea Barton
Meg Farra
Sarah Schmits
Kaylin Soldat
Matt Rygg
University of Portland
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon 97203-5798
503.943.8000
