SALEM — Facing a sharp surge in coronavirus infections that threatens to swamp Oregon hospitals, Gov. Kate Brown ordered a double dose Thursday, Aug. 19 of mandatory vaccination mandates.

All K-12 educators, school staff and volunteers must be vaccinated no later than Oct. 18, Brown announced, or six weeks after one receives full approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration, whichever is later.

The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine Monday, Aug. 23.

“COVID-19 poses a threat to our kids, and our kids need to be protected and they need to be in school,” Brown said.

A second mandate with the same deadline would apply to doctors, nurses, emergency medical teams and other health care workers.

“Our No. 1 priority is to continue to provide health care to the people of Wallowa County,” said Wallowa Memorial Hospital CEO Larry Davy. “We will abide by rules as set forth by Gov. Brown as to not disrupt this care. There is no option to not compl,y and we will continue to provide support and information around the vaccine, this mandate, and it’s exemptions to our employees as it becomes available.”

Wallowa Superintendent Tammy Jones said in an email to the Chieftain Thursday afternoon — one in which she wrote was a message from herself, Joseph Superintendent Lance Homan, Enterprise Superintendent Erika Pinkerton and Karen Patton of the Troy and Wallowa ESD — that local school leaders are waiting for more information from the state.

“We just heard the announcement that Gov. Brown has directed OHA to develop a rule ordering schools to have vaccinated adults in all K-12 settings by Oct. 18 or six weeks from FDA approval, whichever is later,” the email said. “This is a shock to say the least. One saving grace is that we have a bit of time to process before the OHA rule takes effect. At this time, we are asking our staff and community to please be patient while we process exactly what this announcement means. We will get more information out as we learn details — please understand that we may not have all information until the OHA rule is written and do not know their timeline. It is our full intent to respect and support our school community over the coming weeks.”

The message said there are religious and medical exemptions allowed to Brown’s staff, and that local leaders “will learn more about if these exemptions apply to adults in the K-12 setting once the rule is written and released.”

The mandates have a deadline far beyond the projected Sept. 3 peak of the current spike in cases.

Cases of coronavirus have exploded statewide in recent weeks, including in Wallowa County. Last week, the county had its highest one-day total of cases with 16, and after reporting 16 more cases over the weekend stands at 348. More than 100 of those cases have been reported by the OHA just in the month of August, continuing the highest spike in local coronavirus cases during the pandemic. There have been 148 cases since the county reached 200 cases on July 19. It took barely four weeks for the county to jump from 200 to 300 cases, with the 300th case reported Aug. 17.

Ronald Bond of the Wallowa County Chieftain contributed to this report.