OHA media event highlights recent reports on vaccine effectiveness, Aug. 9

At Friday’s media availability, Dr. Melissa Sutton, medical director of respiratory viral pathogens at OHA, discussed findings released in OHA’s latest report on COVID-19 related hospitalizations and a new national study on COVID-19 vaccines’ effectiveness. The two reports show that all three authorized COVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective in preventing severe COVID-19 infection leading to hospitalization. They also show that the vaccines are as effective in the real world as they were in the clinical studies, and that they continue to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in the face of the widely circulating Delta variant. The OHA report notes that in July, 91% percent of COVID-19 deaths were among Oregonians who were unvaccinated. A copy of the slides from that briefing can be found here, with talking points found here. On Wednesday, Governor Kate Brown announced a new health and safety rule for employees in health care settings to help prevent Delta variant spread. OHA has issued the rule, and you will find the new rule on this page once it is officially posted.