Second Vaccination Clinic
Lane County Public Health has announced a second vaccination clinic for Florence. In addition to today’s clinic at the Florence Events Center there will be another 1000 dose clinic on Saturday. Participants will be in the 65+ category and are selected from the current list that is on record with the lanecounty.org registration portal. Several thousand residents in Florence responded to the call for registration and recent upticks in allocations to Lane County have allowed for a second round of first doses. Confirmation notices will go out to those who have preregistered with Lane County either through lanecounty.org/covidvaccine or through their phone number at 541 682 1380. Residents that are in the 65+ age group that are interested in getting a vaccine should pre-register. The county is planning for more vaccination clinics to come. If you are chosen for Saturday’s round of vaccines you will receive a confirmation code and a time to arrive for your vaccine. Officials are asking that you do not arrive early and do not show up if you do not have a confirmation code.
Low Case Number for COVID-19
There were only 24 cases of COVID-19 reported for Lane County yesterday. The Florence area did not see an increase in cases either and stands at 170. It was also a fairly light day across the state as the Oregon Health Authority reported 269 cases. Oregon is expected to hit the 1,000,000 mark for immunizations today. Total first and second doses administered as of yesterday was 997,448. There were still 13 more deaths added to the list as the total grows to 2,225. One of the deaths was a 90 year old Lane County man who tested positive on February 19th.
Variant in Douglas County
A coronavirus variant from Brazil has emerged in Oregon. Medical authorities in Douglas County, Oregon, said the sample was sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the end of January. The Oregon officials say they received the results Monday night that showed the P.1 variant. They said it appears to be related to business travel between the U.S. and Brazil. The variant, which was originally detected in Manaus, Brazil, appears to be more contagious than the original COVID-19 strain. It can potentially be contracted by someone who was already infected or who has been vaccinated.
Gas Prices Continue Upward
Gas prices continue to inch up to the $3.00 mark in Florence as crude oil prices hover around the $61.00 a barrel mark. The Florence area has seen another .05 cent increase and is now at an average of $2.80 a gallon. The pumps are now feeling the results of the winter storm that hit the Pacific Northwest and the nation’s midsection. Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says she expects the prices to continue to rise and believes that March will be one of the most expensive months for fuel.
