SALEM — Every adult in Oregon will be offered a vaccination against COVID-19 by July 1, with the two-shot vaccines reaching all adults who want it by August, Gov. Kate Brown said Friday, Feb. 26.

“Come summer, any Oregonian who wants the vaccine can receive it,” Brown announced at a virtual press conference.

It was a surprisingly optimistic forecast after recent estimates that the vaccination of the entire state would stretch into autumn or even early 2022.

Group 6 eligibility, the next step in Phase 1B of immunization, begins March 29, when residents 45-64 with medical conditions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as making them more likely to become seriously ill or die if infected with COVID-19, can sign up. Conditions include Type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart conditions, kidney disease, COPD, Down syndrome, compromised immune systems and sickle cell disease. Pregnancy is on the list, as is obesity that results in a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more.

Residents should consult with their doctor and with the full explanation of qualifying conditions on the CDC and Oregon Health Authority websites.

Also eligible on March 29 are some farm and food industry workers, homeless people, residents of low-income or congregate housing, wildland firefighters and those displaced by the 2020 wildfires.

On May 1, those aged 16-44 with medical conditions on the CDC list can sign up. Also “frontline” workers with jobs dealing with the public, and any adult living in a multigenerational household.

Phase 2 begins with anyone over 45 eligible on June 1 and anyone over 16 on July 1.

No vaccine approved for children is available yet, though several are under development.

In Wallowa County, individuals who qualify for the vaccine as part of Group 6 were able to start calling Wallowa Memorial Hospital on Monday, March 1, to get on the waitlist.

“Once we get into (vaccinating) Group 6, we will open the phone line for Group 7,” WMH Communications Director Brooke Pace said. “We imagine Group 6 is going to be a large number of people. We are going to open this up one group at a time.

“When they call we will ask them a qualifying question. We will ask them what group they fall under, and if it is an underlying condition. It’s a pretty long list, but it’s not anything. It has to be an underlying health condition with extreme risk as identified by the CDC.”

Pace added that as long as there is vaccine on hand and everyone 65 and older who wants a vaccine has received one, they can move into initial inoculation of Group 6 individuals prior to March 29.

“The wording that they use on their sequencing is ‘eligible no later than,’” Pace said. “That allows us to move forward as long as the group ahead of them has been addressed.”

Pace said another 300 doses of the vaccine are scheduled to be administered by the hospital on Friday, March 5, which would wrap up the 70-and-older group — with the exception of a few individuals who cannot get in that day — and start into the 65-and-up demographic.

As of last week, there were at least 1,233 first doses of the vaccine administered, Pace said, and 619 people who had been fully vaccinated. There currently are about 330 individuals on the 65-and-older waitlist and about 275 more scheduled for vaccination on the 70-and-up list.

An additional 400 second doses are slated to be administered March 9 and March 16, Pace said.

Those newly eligible who want a spot on the waitlist are encouraged to call 541-426-5437.

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Wallowa County Chieftain Editor Ronald Bond contributed to this report.

March 29: Phase 1B, Group 6

• Adults age 45 to 64 with underlying health conditions, as defined by the CDC

• Seasonal workers, such as migrant farm workers, seafood and agricultural workers, and food processing workers.

• Currently displaced victims of the September 2020 wildfires

• Wildland firefighters

• People living in low-income and congregate senior housing

• Homeless

May 1: Phase 1B, Group 7

• Individuals age 16-45 with underlying health conditions

• All other frontline workers as defined by the CDC

• Multigenerational household members

June 1: Phase 2, Group 1

• Adults 45 to 64

July 1: Phase 2, Group 2

• Everyone age 16 and over