Bivalent COVID-19 boosters available to everyone 5 years and older

Available in Spanish Children as young as 5 years old are now eligible to receive an updated COVID-19 booster. The bivalent boosters, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, are designed to protect people from the currently predominant Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, as well as from the original COVID-19 strain. It’s a single dose that can […]

Comic for kids: Why you should get a COVID-19 vaccine!

Available in Spanish Talking to kids about COVID-19 can be hard, especially when the messages surrounding the pandemic change often. But the importance of COVID-19 vaccines hasn’t changed. They slow the spread of the virus and help keep people safe. Vaccines are the best protection we have against severe COVID-19 illness , hospitalization and death. […]

This year’s flu shot more important than ever

Available in Spanish An unexpected upside of COVID-19 precautions such as masking indoors and avoiding crowds is that public health experts saw virtually no major flu outbreaks in the United States during the last two years. That will likely change this year. With most mandatory COVID-19 measures lifted and many people returning to pre-pandemic activities, […]

Updated COVID-19 booster targets subvariants responsible for 98% of cases today

Available in Spanish The fact that we have an updated bivalent booster dose that targets the predominant variants circulating today is a wonder of science, but how do we know it’s safe and effective? In late June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) weighed administering the original COVID-19 vaccine as the next round of […]

Improved race and ethnicity data leads to changes in vaccination rates

Starting on Sept. 14, 2022, OHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination Metrics dashboard will include updated population estimates for race and ethnicity data at the state and county level. OHA worked closely with Portland State University’s Population Research Center to incorporate the latest data and methodology from the 2020 American Community Survey (ACS), leading to better estimates of the […]

Understanding personal risk using weekly COVID-19 data

Available in Spanish Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced last week that some data about COVID-19 will now be updated weekly rather than daily. Starting Sept. 14, weekly updates will include: Although many people relied on daily updates to assess their personal risk, weekly data still shows accurate and useful trends in how COVID-19 is spreading […]

How does COVID-19 affect your heart?

Available in Spanish Over the last two and a half years of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical experts have found that the virus can cause damage to many parts of the body. Although most people experience symptoms in their nose, throat and lungs, the virus also can damage other organs, such as the heart. “COVID-19 can […]

A pharmacist goes above and beyond to protect people from COVID-19

Available in Spanish On a hazy summer day in 2021, the crew of a cargo ship off the coast of Oregon had an unlikely visitor. Sandy Le, a Portland pharmacist, approached in a small boat. Through whipping winds she climbed aboard, onto the gangway, with a supply of COVID-19 vaccines in tow. The people on […]

How does COVID-19 affect your lungs?

Available in Spanish COVID-19 can damage several parts of the body, but most people experience symptoms in their respiratory tract, with a sore throat, stuffy nose, cough or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms, specifically coughing and shortness of breath, originate in the lungs. “It may feel like a cold, a bad cold,” said […]

On the road: bringing COVID-19 vaccines and health care to the people

Available in Spanish Getting health care and COVID-19 vaccines to the rural areas of 1,000-square-mile Clatsop County has been challenging at times, but a new mobile health clinic is changing that. This summer, the county was able to buy a mobile health clinic funded by a grant from the Oregon Health Authority. “The van has […]