Vaccination Age Lowers to 75+
This week individuals that are 75 years and older can receive the coronavirus vaccine as the county continues to move forward with the plan submitted by the Oregon Health Authority. Doses of the vaccine have been set aside for the addition of the next phase. According to Lane County Public Health representative Jason Davis the supply is not yet at a number that can vaccinate all individuals that are within that age group.
“We have 2,400 prime doses for our 75 plus population.”
Those doses will be distributed throughout the county to individuals that have registered on the Lane County vaccine website. There are other lists that are available as well. According to Dr. Willie Foster with Peace Harbor Medical center you should cover your bases.
“I recommend people get on every list they can, the peace Health list, but the Lane County list is important as well, because potentially the might be some mass vaccination events and being on one list doesn’t mean you are on the other one, so definitely get on the Lane County List.”
Foster also says that Safeway stores could soon be providing vaccinations. They have cleared the hurdles and have been approved by the state. The question yet remaining is how many shots will they receive. Foster says currently they are appropriated about 100 shots.
COVID-19 Numbers Continue Downward Trend
159 remains the number of COVID-19 cases in the Florence Area. Lane County totals continue to see an overall decline in the numbers. Jason Davis with LCPH says the numbers have been steadily decreasing over the past several weeks. Lane County added only 21 new cases yesterday with no new deaths to report. 21 people are currently hospitalized and 4 people are in the ICU. Statewide there were 411 new cases reported. The state has also received a new shipment of vaccines to be distributed. There are now 905 thousands vaccines delivered to date and about 700,000 doses have been administered.
101 Closure Update
The Oregon Department of Transportation has decided not to do a 24 hour closure of Highway 101 between Sea Lion Caves and Cooks Chasm after a retaining wall failed at milepost 170.5. Iinitially the road was going to be closed this morning at 8 am with no access for about 2 weeks, however ODOT now says that the work to repair the road will take place between the hours of 7am and 7pm and the road, with flaggers, will be opened to one lane of traffic overnight. Repairs are expected to take about a week. There are no local detours available.
Gas Prices
Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says that, despite the low demand for fuel, individuals can expect to see higher prices at the pump. In the last week the Florence area has seen about a .10 cent jump with the average price per gallon of regular at $2.59 a gallon. Crude Prices are the highest in over a year – hovering near 60 dollars a barrel. Oregon’s current prices are similar to the same time last year. Extreme weather across the state has done little to affect prices locally, but in some states, like Texas, oil production is down and prices are rising steadily.
