The Oregon Health Authority would not say Tuesday whether it plans to maintain a lottery system for Portland-area residents who will become eligible March 29 for COVID-19 vaccinations at the Oregon Convention Center.
State officials launched the lottery system for appointments at the large-scale clinic after frustrated seniors last month struggled to book slots in first-come, first-served online free-for-alls.
Extending the lottery system beyond seniors could make sense – except there’s a problem: the existing registration still isn’t asking residents who sign up crucial questions about their occupations and underlying medical conditions, two things needed to determine eligibility in the next wave.
That indicates Oregon may need to revise the registration process and ask thousands to re-enroll or provide new information, or potentially move to a different system for appointments at the convention center, the state’s largest vaccination site.
“If there are changes to the current system for securing appointments come March 29, we will announce them and share them widely,” spokesman Rudy Owens said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday.
In less than two weeks Oregonians ages 45 to 64 with underlying conditions will become eligible for vaccinations. So will some frontline workers in jobs including agriculture and food processing, plus people who are homeless or displaced by last September’s wildfires.
Oregon’s current timeline for vaccinating various groups moves next to Group 6 on March 29, as outlined in this chart. (Chart featured on covidvaccine.oregon.gov)
State officials estimate it’s possible more than half a million Oregonians will be newly eligible.
But many Portland-area residents in the next wave are apprehensive after bumpy rollouts in February mired by slow-moving websites and plenty of glitches. Residents have been watching and waiting for details as the end of March speeds closer.
Will Portland-area residents need to watch their clocks, get online at precise times and madly click away to try to secure an appointment, like seniors currently do for vaccinations at Portland International Airport, one of the other large vaccination sites in Portland?
Or will the state use its registry and lottery system, like it has with seniors who want appointments at the Oregon Convention Center, randomly selecting their names then sending them links to book vaccination times?
Beaverton resident Eric Johansen is among those awaiting answers.
“Thirteen days away — it’s getting a little close,” Johansen said Tuesday.
Johansen said he’ll become eligible March 29 because he’s 62 and has diabetes. But because the state’s website didn’t ask him if he has any underlying conditions when he previously registered, the first date it could possibly figure he’s eligible is June 1. That’s when healthy adults ages 45 to 64 can begin booking appointments under the state’s current timeline.
Johansen said he logged back onto the registration site GetVaccinated.Oregon.gov recently and was relieved to see that the state included a notice at the top of his account informing him that he will have to return and answer a new set of questions coming soon. Owens, the Oregon Health Authority spokesman, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that changes could be coming later this week.
Johansen’s answers about his underlying condition ultimately will allow the website to accurately inform him when he is eligible — and enter him into a lottery for appointments at the convention center, if indeed that is the system the state chooses to use.
But Johansen isn’t willing to count entirely on the lottery system. Already, he’s visited pharmacy websites because he’s wanted to see how many appointments are available, figuring they’ll be a good back-up if the state’s system doesn’t pan out.
He recently found appointments available at Costco stores in Albany and Roseburg, offering some peace of mind, even though he didn’t book them because he doesn’t yet qualify.
“It’s a good thing I’m retired,” Johansen, the city of Portland’s former treasurer and debt manager, said with a chuckle, “or I wouldn’t have time to do all this research.”
Tom McCarthy, a 58-year-old Gresham resident, said he’ll also be eligible March 29 because he has lung disease and a body mass index just over 30. He also noticed the same problem with GetVaccinated.Oregon.gov that Johansen did, but notes there might be many others who haven’t.
“Obviously, I’m not going to wait two extra months,” McCarthy said in an email. “… But I worry there will be many people who assume the reason they haven’t received a (notification) yet is because their name just hasn’t been randomly drawn yet from the huge number of people in the qualifying pool.”
According to the Health Authority more than 120,000 residents have registered at GetVaccinated.Oregon.gov, which also currently serves as the convention center lottery for Portland-area seniors.
Elsewhere in Oregon, the process for securing vaccination appointments will vary from county to county — and the Health Authority recommends residents check with their local counties to learn about the sign-up process that will be used.
In all, the state estimates more than 525,000 could become eligible March 29. The state is unsure of the exact number because it didn’t have counts for some groups, such as pregnant women and firefighters, and some people in this upcoming wave might already have been vaccinated.
State officials say weekly federal shipments to the state have been rapidly increasing since earlier this winter and some previous problems should be more easily avoided.
In fact, Oregon officials have said they hope President Biden delivers on his goal of making all Americans eligible for vaccination May 1 – a timeline Oregon only plans to honor if promised doses arrive.
McCarthy, the Gresham resident, said he’s been thinking about the immediate future a lot.
“I’m thinking about it because if I get it I’m probably one of the people who are more likely to die,” he said of COVID-19.
March 29, he added, “is definitely on my calendar.”
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— Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee