On Thursday, September 9th, President Biden mandated COVID vaccinations for all businesses with 100 or more employees. Also, Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district, became the first major school district to mandate vaccines for students 12 and older on Thursday. All this on the heels of Governor Brown’s statewide mandate requiring outdoor mask wearing, and vaccinations of all state employees.
This nationwide mandate comes from arguably two of the biggest anti-vaxxer skeptics in the country, who used their presidential candidacy platform to originally discredit the vaccine as well as the process taken to produce the very same vaccine they are now mandating today.
At a campaign event in July, 2020, then candidate Biden questioned whether a vaccine produced by the Trump administration would even be “real.” In a September, 2020, interview, then candidate Biden outright suggested it would be unsafe to take a coronavirus vaccine shot because then-President Donald Trump “continues to mislead and lie.” On Thursday, September 9th, one year later, President Biden told the American people “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us,” Biden said.
In President Biden’s Thursday address, the President doubled down, “We have the tools to combat COVID-19, and a distinct minority of Americans.., are keeping us from turning the corner.., are making people sick, and causing unvaccinated people to die”, he said.
This after the President, who just a week ago, blamed the coronavirus pandemic for a surprisingly weak jobs report as many workers who have worked through the pandemic unvaccinated, are now being mandated to vaccinate or lose their employment. Lawsuits are currently being filed as many are now choosing to leave their profession and industries already struggling with staffing shortages such as healthcare, first responders, police officers, firefighters and many more, are now fearing that up 25% of their staff could refuse to comply, resulting in continued serious staffing issues.
Vaccination rates for the state slowed even further in the past week as the state sat at 72.8% vaccinated last week, and to date, now sits at 73.3%, an increase of .5% in the past week. Oregon Health Authority and the Center for Disease Control assured individuals that the fully vaccinated are well protected from COVID, including the delta variant.
Through September 10th, the Oregon Health Authority has identified 13,392 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon after adding 2,657 new breakthrough cases in the past week, equaling 20% of all new cases recorded in the past week according to Thursdays Oregon Health Authority report. The Delta variant also increased by 705 cases since last week, rising to 3,114 total individuals infected with the Delta variant.
As of Friday, September 10th, the state of Oregon had tested 6,531,574 individuals, an increase of 135,258 individuals and now over 2,242,134 more people than the states 4,289,440 population. 6,118,395 have tested negative for the novel COVID-19 virus and 413,179 have tested positive. Oregon has recorded 15,924 new cases in the past week, and 296,825 total cases.
Individuals hospitalized rose by 662 hospitalizations statewide in the past week, and now stands at 16,291. In the past week 142 deaths were recorded statewide, and Oregonians who have unfortunately succumbed to COVID-19 has now reached 3,414 individuals throughout the entire state since the pandemic began.
Curry County’s latest numbers as reported Friday, September 10th, by the Oregon Health Authority, now reports testing 19,233 individuals with 17,649 negative tests, 1,584 total positive COVID-19 tests, and the latest data from the Oregon Health Authority and has recorded 1,604 total cases and now 16 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services reported adding 207 new cases in the past week, 42 fewer than the previous week and now reaching 3,261 total confirmed cases reported by Public Health, after testing 17,974 individuals with 14,713 negative results, with 228 active cases, 15 current hospitalizations and 31 deaths.
Coos County to the north, reported testing 69,393 individuals last week with 65,044 negative results, adding 438 new cases in the past week with now 4,349 total positive cases and 63 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Josephine County has seen significant increases in recent weeks and has reported testing 124,626 individuals with 113,315 negative results, 11,311 total positive test results with now 8,149 total cases of COVID-19 and now 154 deaths.
Jackson County, which includes the Medford area, with a total population of 221,290, reports testing 337,790 individuals, 230,184 more people than the counties total population, with 308,239 negative test results, 29,551 positive results, and 19,932 total cases of COVID-19 with now 232 deaths as of Friday, September 10th.
