August 19, 2021 2:30 p.m.
On Thursday, Governor Kate Brown announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers and education workers in Oregon.
Brown said health care workers will no longer have a testing alternative. They will be required to be fully vaccinated by October 18th, or six weeks after full Food and Drug Administration approval, whichever is later. In addition, all teachers, educators, support staff and volunteers in K-12 schools will be required to be fully vaccinated by the same time.
Brown said the decision was made to help address Oregon’s hospital crisis, caused by the Delta variant surge, and to help keep Oregon students safe in the upcoming school year and minimize disruptions to in-person instruction.
Brown said, “The Delta variant has put enormous pressure on our health systems, and health care workers are being stretched to their absolute limits providing life-saving treatment for the patients in their care”. Brown said she is devoting all available resources to help, and “…we must proactively implement solutions right now. We need every single frontline health care worker healthy and available to treat patients”.
A release said in both cases, health care workers and educators who are not yet vaccinated are urged to speak with their doctor or primary care provider to get their remaining questions about vaccination answered immediately, so they can begin the vaccination process in time to meet the new requirements.
Brown also outlined steps Oregon is taking to support hospitals at this time, including deploying the National Guard and nurse strike teams, establishing temporary decompression units to free up bed space and removing barriers to discharging patients who no longer require hospital-level care.
The release said Oregon has also made requests to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Biden-Harris administration for additional federal resources and support. Brown said she has formed a Hospital Crisis Prevention and Response group consisting of health care stakeholders to problem solve in real time and suggest new measures to aid health care workers and hospitals during the ongoing hospital crisis.
A copy of the Governor’s remarks is linked: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-TvoEoB6F-UuDdaSHaSUBP2_0ChvBw-W/view