Some public health officials say ICE activity and federal vaccine actions have caused confusion and fear, leading to fewer shots.
OREGON — Oregon’s flu season is closing in on its brutal end, which left many family members dodging each other at holiday gatherings to stay safe.
Nationally, less of the population is getting flu vaccinations, and Oregon followed that trend. This season, only 30.7% of Oregonians got the flu vaccine, 10,000 fewer than last year—a rate about one-third lower than the national average.
The low rate is unsurprising. Oregon has one of the lowest rates for childhood vaccinations in the nation, for example, with nearly 1 in 10 kindergarten students opted out by their parents, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
An OJP analysis shows Multnomah and Washington counties had the highest flu vaccination rates in the state, each around 35%. Counties in Southeast Oregon—Grant and Malheur—had the lowest, at 16% and 17.4%, respectively. So far this season, all of Oregon’s 36 counties but Deschutes and Umatilla showed a drop in vaccination rates compared with last year’s complete flu season. Tillamook had the largest decrease: 4 percentage points, down to 24%.
Tillamook public health officials are concerned, but not surprised that the county mirrors the national drop in flu vaccination rates, says Camille Sorensen, the county’s public health communications manager. The county tried to protect more residents this season, she says, by hosting several low-barrier vaccination events.
Sorensen pointed to two reasons for the drop in her county, ones that likely played a role across the state:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement action around the state may have scared off some groups of people from attending vaccination events or clinics.
Second, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the leadership of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has promulgated inaccurate and inconsistent information about the safety of vaccines.
“There’s a lot of confusion…regarding vaccination efficacy or other concerns about potential side effects,” Sorensen says.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the vaccine rate for this season was 22% to 34% effective in preventing doctor’s visits for adults and 30% effective in preventing hospitalizations. While the vaccine wasn’t as effective as in previous years, it remains the best way to avoid getting severely sick or hospitalized, according to OHA.
This season, the flu caused the deaths of about 10,000 people nationwide, mostly elderly, but also more than 44 children, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The association said it was the worst outbreak in nearly two decades.
In Oregon’s TriMet region (Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties), there have been 934 hospitalizations for the flu so far this year. Last year at this time, there were 1,634, or 75% more, likely because last year’s bug was more severe.
Flu shots are easier to access than many other vaccines. Most people with health insurance can walk into any drug store and get immunized. Oregonians without insurance can get a flu shot at community clinics or through their public health department.
To learn more about finding a vaccine clinic near you, visit the Oregon Health Authority’s “Getting Vaccines in Oregon” webpage.
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This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project (oregonjournalismproject.org), a nonprofit investigative newsroom for the state of Oregon.
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