News & Stories for Oregonians
Brittany Jordan works as a peer support specialist for DAWNS House, a sober living facility that provides support for newly sober women who are recovering from addiction. After nearly a year of hesitancy, Jordan received her second dose of Pfizer this month with her partner Austin West. They now hope to help others become vaccinated too.
When the government rolled out the COVID-19 vaccination program last spring, people were thrilled at the chance to protect themselves. But for Ketzel Levine, thrilled might be putting it mildly.
Diana, a lawyer, who lives in Brownsville, waited quite some time before getting vaccinated. A 63-year-old with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a pacemaker, she felt hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
In the early days of COVID-19, Yvonne Hall wore so much protective gear, her boyfriend joked she looked like a “space alien.” “When the disease started to hit in China, I saw it was airborne and had the mask that I wore from my previous work in a neuroscience lab rebuilt,” said Hall who lives […]
Rain Jordan describes herself as a pragmatic and “safety-first” person, so it’s not surprising that she has continued to take COVID-19 precautions, including wearing a mask when appropriate, since getting vaccinated early in the summer. A former college professor, Rain shares that having auto-immune risk factors, previous adverse reactions to vaccines and some skepticism about […]
Sharon Porter, a retired educator in La Grande, did not hesitate at all to get the COVID-19 vaccine. As a cancer patient, Sharon is grateful for the treatments that have kept her alive for many years. As Sharon explains, “I have been vaccinated for measles, smallpox, polio, shingles, flu, and all the other childhood diseases. I felt I had a load […]
Ricardo Cobar, an IT network technician for Greater Albany Public Schools, got COVID-19 in December 2020. Most of his family members also got COVID-19, but for Ricardo and his mother, the experience was life-threatening. As Ricardo shares, “My mother and I had to go to the Intensive Care Unit. I was close to death. I […]
Nancy is originally from Mexico, but has lived in United States most of her life. After spending about a year in Oregon working as a nurse in a McMinnville assisted living facility, she moved to Illinois with her husband where she continues to help seniors with their daily care. Due to her line of work, […]
Check out a new video featuring mother and pediatrician Dr. Julia Paz, where she shares her journey about choosing to get her son vaccinated. Dr. Paz also reinforces the importance of talking to your health care provider or other trusted sources to get your questions answered. This article first appeared in the Aug. 25, 2021 issue of […]
On Thursday, Aug. 19, Dr. Jeff Absalon, Chief Physician Executive for St. Charles Hospital in Bend, spoke about the crisis facing health systems and hospitals due to the COVID-19 surge. Soon after they lost a patient to COVID-19, Dr. Absalon arrived at the St. Charles Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Bend. “Our nurses had […]