Jackson Co. gets chosen for federal pilot vaccination program

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. – Jackson County is now getting an extra 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses per day after being chosen for a federal pilot program. Governor Kate Brown told NBC5 News it’s a race against the virus. She said it’s time to get shots in arms as soon as possible.

As COVID-19 cases in Southern Oregon rise, the Biden-Harris Administration is focusing an effort on vaccinations. The White House partnering with FEMA and Oregon Governor Kate Brown to bring additional resources to Jackson County.

“Our goal is to get vaccines in arms equably, efficiently, effectively as possible. Southern Oregon has been hard hit by the wildfires, but also by the pandemic itself,” said Gov. Brown.

Starting next week, Jackson County will take part in a Pilot Community Vaccination Center Where it’ll receive 1,000 extra Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses per day.

Currently, there are about 2,600 open spots at the Jackson County Expo.

The pilot program will provide extra help with each event.

“Oftentimes what we find is we don’t have enough people to fill all the different positions that are needed to run a vaccination clinic,” said Tanya Phillips, Jackson Co. Public Health.

Public health officials said we won’t get back to normal unless we have herd immunity.

“If we want to get our economy going let’s get people vaccinated. That’ll make it much safer to loosen the regulations,” said Gov. Brown.

The program starts next week and will run for the next two months. Jackson County Public Health said when this article was published there was plenty of availability this week to get vaccinated for those eligible.

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NBC5 News reporter Katie Streit comes from her hometown, Las Vegas. Katie went to the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism & Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, Katie won a Student Emmy for her coverage of the Las Vegas Shooting Anniversary. She also hosted and produced the university's political news show, where she interviewed Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-1). Her passion for politics turned into a coveted internship at the US Capitol in Washington D.C. In her final months working in the Las Vegas area, she was recognized for her journalism achievements by the Nevada Broadcaster's Foundation. Katie is excited to tell the stories of local Southern Oregonians and Northern Californians. Feel free to contact her at [email protected]
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