Mount Hood

WOU announces plans to require COVID-19 vaccine

Western leadership creates incentive program for vaccines

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

As of May 11, a total of three private and four public universities in Oregon have announced requirements for students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 for the next school year.

Western became the third public university to announce its plans to require students, staff and faculty to be vaccinated for the upcoming school year during a virtual town hall meeting on May 10.

“I wanted something that rewarded students for doing the right thing,” said Johnson, “and I also wanted to push us to have a more safe opening in the fall.”

The incentive program was initialized by Associated Students of Western Oregon University President NJ Johnson to further encourage the community to be vaccinated against the virus. Under the program, people who have received their first dose of the vaccine qualify to receive a $25 WolfStore voucher that can be used for textbooks, Western merchandise or other miscellaneous items found at the bookstore. To receive the voucher, a vaccine card and student ID must be presented to the Werner University Center information desk.

According to Johnson, the program is currently being funded by the General Fund and anticipates it costing around $100,000. The intent is to eventually have the program funded by the emergency relief fund, however, due to the ambiguity of what emergency relief is permitted to be used for, the university is still working with the federal government to determine if the program is legally permitted to be funded this way.

Western intends to provide students with the opportunity to take in person classes next term. During the virtual town hall meeting, the modalities were presented as follows: in person classes will make up 53% of Western’s curriculum, 22% hybrid, 19% online asynchronous and 6%  online synchronous; departments were not specified.  For students planning to live on campus next year, Tina Fuchs announced reduced capacity in the residence halls. Ackerman will be filled to 85% capacity while Arbor Park will be filled to 100%. Barnum and Landers will be assessed on a need basis. 

The COVID vaccine is not the only required vaccination by the institution; according to the Student Health and Counseling website, all admitted students are required to have the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine before coming to campus. Exceptions include being born before Jan. 1, 1957, religious beliefs and specific nonmedical related issues that are provided by the state of Oregon. Western is still currently researching exemptions for COVID.

“Many of the details remain unfinished,” said Western Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Hagemann, “and that’s because we have to speak to our community.” 

Hagemann went on to say how the university is making this a priority and is trying to get it right.

“This really relates to the idea that we should be able to have a safe community,” said President Rex Fuller during the May 10 virtual town hall meeting. “We know that being together in face to face encounters with careful safety planning, we have a better educational experience for all of our students, faculty and staff.”

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

West Valley Hospital moves second vaccine distribution site to WOU

Western’s Pacific Room is being used to allocate COVD-19 vaccine during Phase 1A 

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Last week, West Valley Hospital relocated their second distribution site for the COVID-19 vaccine from the Polk County fairgrounds to Western’s campus.

 “We were able to put up our first week there,” said Pathway Program and Community Outreach Administrator Jenny Von Derahe. “We moved here because it’s a central location and the technology is adequate for our needs.”

According to Von Derahe, the clinic was furnished in a day with the help of hospital facility workers, the environmental services team and kitchen staff.

“It feels safer and more comfortable than the fairgrounds,” said Polk County resident Wendy Brockhouse. “It just seemed weird in the big old barns … this just seems more a part of the community and safer.”

At this time Western is not charging West Valley to rent out the Pacific Room. According to Von Derahe, Western is not funding employment for the workers or volunteers of the clinic, however there are discussions of potentially allowing Western students interested in the medical field to volunteer at the clinic. Additionally, the clinic is not administering vaccines to administrators, faculty, staff or students unless they qualify within Phase 1A.

“One positive that’s come out is the collaborations that have taken place,” said Western Alumnus and District 1 Polk County Fire Chief Ben Stange.

Stange explained that Western has worked extensively with the community to facilitate a functional clinic on its campus.

“The Pacific Room would normally be used for this or that … but we (Western) can’t have events so it’s available. So what can we do to help the larger cause,”said Stange.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, Polk County has partially vaccinated 8.5% of its population and fully vaccinated less than 1% of the population. 

“It’s been such a huge deal to our people,” said Stange. “We were transporting positive patients every couple days, and it’s been difficult to see. The opportunity to actually hands on start to fix a problem that we’ve really felt we’ve had zero control over has been nice.”

Stange explained that, just like other health care professionals, their focus is to take care of people during emergency situations.

“There hasn’t been anything really till this moment that we’ve felt like we can do to make a large impact,” said Stange.

At this time, West Valley is charging a $60 administration fee for the vaccine that will be billed to the patient’s insurance. If uninsured, the hospital waives the fee. Due to the unpredictability of vaccine dose delivery, clinics are not open daily. To learn about hours and vaccination qualifications, visit their website at salemhealth.org.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Oregon

Oregon enters Phase 1A of vaccine delivery initiative

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

In late December, select Oregon residents received doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

To deliver the vaccine to all Oregonians, the state has implemented a three-phase rollout plan. On Jan. 5, Oregon began Phase 1A of its vaccination schedule. In Phase 1A, the Oregon Health Association lists in its plan: hospital workers and first responders, elderly and those involved in their care, prison doctors, clinics serving high-risk groups, visiting nurses/home health care providers, other health care providers and funeral home workers to be vaccinated first. 

Over 51,000 Oregonians have received the first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine since the beginning of 2021, whereas only nine people have completed the two doses required for full vaccination according to covidvaccine.oregon.gov. Currently, the CDC reports Oregon has delivered over 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine and over 121,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Currently Pfizer and Moderna are known to have three major differences, including age restrictions, temperature storage requirements and length of time between each dose. In comparison to Pfizer, the Moderna vaccine can be kept at -4 °F, whereas Pfizer’s must be kept at  -94 °F. Additionally, a person must be at least 18 years old or older to receive the Moderna vaccine and the two doses must be administered 28 days apart in comparison to Pfizer’s 21-day separation, which has an age restriction of 16 years.

On Dec. 22, West Valley Hospital in Dallas received its first shipment of Moderna vaccine according to a press release by Salem Health. 

“For decades, West Valley Hospital has been providing a wide range of quality care to residents of Polk County,” said West Valley Hospital Chief administrative officer and licensed registered nurse Brandon Schmidgall in the press release. “Today we begin offering a new and historic service — the COVID-19 vaccine — first to our health care heroes, but eventually to our small-town community.”

As of Jan. 5, Polk County has vaccinated 1% of an estimated 82,000 residents according to the OHA. Local clinics like Western’s Student Health and Counseling Center have not received COVID vaccines yet; although, on Dec. 22, Oregon added educators to the list. 

 “Teachers have recently been added to Phase 1A and who that all includes will need to be more clearly defined by OHA,” said Polk County Public Health Administrator Jacqui Umstead. “We will work with Western Oregon University, and other local educational institutions to ensure that both staff and students have access to the vaccine, when it is their turn.” 

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu