Oregon reports 7,871 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 19 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 19 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,067, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. OHA reported 7,871 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 613,221.
OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report
OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released Thursday, reported 57,011 cases of COVID-19 during the week of Jan.16 to Jan. 22. Of those cases, 40,594, or 71.2%, were unvaccinated people and 16,417, or 28.8%, were vaccine breakthrough cases. The median age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 46. Ninety-eight breakthrough cases were residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 1,469 cases in people ages 12 to 17. To date, there have been 104,088 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. The median age of all breakthrough cases is 42. Cases of COVID-19 are far more common in unvaccinated people than in vaccinated people. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is more than four times as high as fully vaccinated people, and nearly nine times as high as in fully vaccinated and boosted people. To date, 2.9% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 0.7% have died. The average age of vaccinated people who have died is 81. Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Oregonians are encouraged to vaccinated and, if eligible, to get a booster shot. This week’s breakthrough report includes additional information on case vaccination status, most notably whether a breakthrough case was “fully vaccinated” or “fully vaccinated and boosted” at the time of infection. Figure 1 now compares case rates among unvaccinated, fully vaccinated, and fully vaccinated and boosted individuals. In addition, the newly added Table 3 shows the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths by case vaccination status. As case counts have increased dramatically during the Omicron surge, breakthrough case ascertainment has been unable to keep pace with the volume of reported cases because approximately one-third of recent case vaccination status is unknown. OHA is working towards alternative methods to identify vaccination status for all reported cases in a timely manner.
Pediatric cases update
COVID-19 cases continue to be high among children ages 0 to 17 with the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, according to the latest weekly dashboard report of pediatric COVID-19 case data in Oregon. OHA continues to monitor trends.
More Oregonians receive COVID-19 booster doses
Oregon continues to move closer to meeting Gov. Kate Brown’s goal, announced Dec. 17, of getting 1 million more people in the state a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of January. When the challenge began, 949,749 people had received a booster dose. Since then, 478,497 Oregonians have received a booster. As of today, Oregon needs 521,503 people to get a booster to reach the goal and make our state safer from the Omicron variant.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 1,130, which is 69 more than Wednesday. There are 169 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is 14 more than Wednesday. There are 59 available adult ICU beds out of 655 total (9% availability) and 266 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,188 (6% availability). The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity. Note: Please do not visit an emergency department for COVID-19 testing, unless you require emergency care for your symptoms. Emergency departments in Oregon are under significant strain. You can find a test here. If you have a medical condition that doesn’t require emergency care, contact your provider. An urgent care center may also help you get the care you need and will save emergency departments from added strain.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Thursday, OHA reported that 13,523 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Jan. 26. Of that total, 1,200 were initial doses, 1,029 were second doses and 4,924 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 6,235 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Jan. 26. The seven-day running average is now 10,859 doses per day. Oregon has now administered 4,026,046 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 206,062 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,645,448 doses of Moderna and 264,277 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of Thursday, 3,120,082 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 2,820,422 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. These data are preliminary and subject to change. Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated Thursday.
COVID-19 Cases
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (34), Benton (59), Clackamas (522), Clatsop (71), Columbia (76), Coos (151), Crook (106), Curry (47), Deschutes (454), Douglas (216), Grant (2), Harney (31), Hood River (35), Jackson (395), Jefferson (88), Josephine (144), Klamath (140), Lake (4), Lane (869), Lincoln (96), Linn (350), Malheur (96), Marion (989), Morrow (34), Multnomah (1,101), Polk (174), Sherman (5), Tillamook (35), Umatilla (179), Union (85), Wallowa (25), Wasco (44), Washington (936) and Yamhill (278).