Vaccine arriving in county, but not yet available to general public

More and more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are arriving in Wallowa County.

But the opportunity to get inoculated is not available to the general public yet.

That was a point of emphasis for Wallowa Memorial Hospital Communications Director Brooke Pace in an interview with the Chieftain on Friday, Jan. 8, noting she has received numerous calls from residents on when they will be able to get vaccinated.

Close to 160 seniors immunized in first week of eligibility

ENTERPRISE — Close to 160 senior citizens age 80 and older were vaccinated against COVID-19 last week as health officials in Wallowa County began to administer the first dose to the most susceptible segment of the population.

The doses were among more than 360 given at Cloverleaf Hall between Jan. 19 and Jan. 22 as the final section of Phase 1A recipients continue to get immunized and the first round of educators and seniors became eligible to receive the vaccine.

County has a fourth COVID death; first of 2021

ENTERPRISE — Wallowa County has had a fourth death related to COVID-19 reported by the Oregon Health Authority.

The news of the death comes as more doses of the vaccine are being administered to senior citizens. Wallowa Memorial Hospital reported it received 300 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine last week, WMH Communications Director Brooke Pace said.

Chief Joseph Days determines it will ride in 2021

At its Monday, Feb. 8 meeting, the Chief Joseph Days Board of Directors made a unanimous decision to hold the rodeo this summer Tuesday, July 27 through Sunday, Aug. 1.

“The board wanted to be sure there was no room for doubt,” CJD Rodeo Board President Terry Jones said. “We are going to have a Chief Joseph Days rodeo. I’ve called all our contractors and they’ve all agreed to be here.”

Second vaccine arrives in Wallowa County

Wallowa County residents had a second COVID-19 vaccine available to them.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived in early March at both Wallowa Memorial Hospital and at Safeway in Enterprise, and the retail store already has been putting it to use.

The news of the third vaccine came during the same week Wallowa County had a fifth death attributed to COVID-19.

COVID victim honored by officers

The ashes of a 911 dispatcher and reserve Wallowa County deputy were delivered by police escort to his parents’ Joseph home Friday, March 12, and a special “last call” over the county’s 911 system was issued for Bret Bridges.

The 47-year-old Bridges died March 2 at Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Medical Center after testing positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 25. He reportedly had underlying issues, according to a press release from the Oregon Health Authority.

“It’s a very honorable thing to do in the 911 world,” said Brenda Micka, administrative services director for Wallowa County. “We’ve lost one of our own. It’s nice to do that, to do the ‘last call’ on the radio.”

Vaccination totals continue to rise

The Wallowa County Health Care District had given more 2,100 first doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and has fully vaccinated close to 1,500 individuals in the county, Wallowa Memorial Hospital Communications Director Brooke Pace said on April 5.

Temporary pause put in place on Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Oregon “paused” using the Johnson & Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccine even though none of six newly reported severe reactions to the vaccine occurred in the state, health officials said Tuesday, April 13.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged states to temporarily stop using the vaccine given to 6.8 million people after six women who received the vaccine became seriously ill and one died. The pause was lifted April 23.

Pfizer vaccine comes to Wallowa County

Brooke Pace, communications director for Wallowa Memorial Hospital, said the hospital learned Thursday, April 15, that it will receive an allocation of 50 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Fifteen cases in late April, early May, raises overall total to 175

Fifteen new COVID-19 cases in five days.

That was where Wallowa County stood after the Oregon Health Authority reported four new cases Friday, April 30, and three more cases Saturday, May 1, the fourth and fifth days in a row the county has had multiple cases after a long quiet stretch of days with zero or one case. The total in the county since the start of the pandemic stands at 175.

COVID-19 restrictions to be fully lifted by June 30

Oregon will lift pandemic limits in place for over a year this week, Gov. Kate Brown said Friday, June 25.

“When Oregon reaches 70% or by Wednesday, June 30, we will lift the safety programs we have relied on and open our economy,” Brown said in a press call on Friday morning.

When the deadline passes or the goal is met, the county-by-county risk level system will be dissolved.

Sixth COVID death reported just before case spike hits

Three COVID-19 cases and one death were reported in Wallowa County by the Oregon Health Authority on Monday, July 19.

The fatality, the sixth reported in Wallowa County, happened last year. The death, OHA said, was of a 59-year-old woman with underlying conditions who tested positive Nov. 10 and died Dec. 14.

Wallowa County sees new one-day mark for COVID-19 cases

Cases of COVID-19 are up again in Wallowa County — this time, to the highest one-day total to date since the start of the pandemic.

And at least two businesses in the county have already been affected by the spike.

The Oregon Health Authority on Friday, July 30, reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 in the county, surpassing the previous one-day record of nine back in February. The county’s total since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 is at 238.

Brown announces statewide vaccine measures

With COVID-19 cases surging across the state of Oregon, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday, Aug. 10, two new health and safety measures — a vaccination requirement for state employees and statewide indoor mask requirements, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

County reaches new threshold as 300th case reported

Wallowa County had four more new cases of COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority reported on Tuesday, Aug. 17, including the 300th case in the county since the start of the pandemic. The county is now at 301 cases.

Oregon hospitals are also filling at a rapid pace. The state reported a record 838 current hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

Teachers, health care workers required to get vaccine

Facing a sharp surge in COVID-19 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, or six weeks after one receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, whichever is later.

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

Wallowa Memorial capacity severely tested during COVID spike

Statewide, hospitals have been near or even at their capacity, with more than 1,100 people in Oregon hospitalized due to coronavirus and the state exceeding 90% capacity.

Wallowa Memorial Hospital has been in a similar situation.

Brooke Pace, WMH communications director, said during the past month, the hospital has reached its patient capacity several times.

“We can certainly say there has been a significant increase in coronavirus patients at our hospital,” she said in late August.

Wallowa County surges past 400 cases

Wallowa County has surpassed 400 COVID-19 cases, and has now seen its case count double in just over a month.

The Oregon Health Authority reported Monday, Aug. 30, that there were 32 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend, which sent the overall total during the pandemic up to 405.

Protesters reject Brown’s mandate

Wallowa County is angry.

At least, the more than 150 protesters were who gathered on the courthouse lawn Wednesday, Sept. 1, to register their objections to Gov. Kate Brown’s mandate requiring all public employees get vaccinated against coronavirus.

Joseph businessman Gary Bethscheider was one of the most vocal.

“Quit being a bunch of sheep. Quit being sheep! Let’s go to the sheriff’s office and we’ll stand over there,” he hollered. “Our sheriff needs to say, ‘Enough.’ We have elected him and he needs to say ‘Enough’s enough.’”

OHA reports five COVID-19 deaths

The Oregon Health Authority on Thursday, Sept. 16, reported five new COVID-19 deaths in Wallowa County, bringing the total during the pandemic to 11. Four of the deaths were from cases during the most-recent surge of the virus, which started in July, and a fifth was from earlier in the year.

The four August deaths are the first reported by OHA during a spike in cases that has seen roughly 295 people in the county contract the virus in the past two months.

On Wednesday, the OHA reported three new cases of COVID-19, and four on Thursday, which brings the county total to 493.

Twelfth COVID-19

death in Wallowa County

The 12th Wallowa County death related to COVID-19, as well as eight new cases, were reported by the Oregon Health Authority on Friday, Sept. 24.

The eight cases in the county bring its total since the start of the pandemic to 540, including 121 in September.

County surges past 600 cases

The Oregon Health Authority reported four COVID-19 cases in the county on Oct. 1. With those cases being part of the September tally, the month ended with 163 cases.

Monday, Oct. 4, OHA reported 20 more cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, which brought the overall total now 19 months into the pandemic to 602.

Wallowa County moves past 700 cases, but case totals slow

The Oregon Health Authority tallied four new cases in Wallowa County over the weekend in its latest report on Monday, Nov. 1. There were no new deaths reported in the county, with the number remaining at 12.

While the number of cases in Wallowa County during the pandemic has moved past 700 — that milestone was hit Friday when two cases were reported to move the total to 701 — and inches closer to seeing 10% of residents having at some point contracting COVID-19, the number of weekly and monthly cases is again on the decline. The four cases reported Monday moved the overall total to 705 cases. For the month of October, the total count was 123 cases, down from 180 in August and 163 in September. The daily average for the month was 3.97 new cases a day.

Thirteenth COVID-19 death in the county

A 13th individual from Wallowa County has died from COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority announced late Tuesday morning, Nov. 23.

The OHA on Monday, Nov. 22, reported 1,753 new COVID cases over the weekend, including one in Wallowa County. It was the fourth case in the county reported in the last week, with single cases also being reported on Nov. 16, Nov. 17 and Nov. 18. That brings the county total during the pandemic to 737.