As the number of eligible Oregonians grows, hospitals are using what works to smooth the process and get more people through
As shipments of life-saving vaccine grow in size, so also has the number of Oregonians eligible to receive those precious doses.
It’s a good problem to have, but the dynamic has also created a sometimes-overwhelming demand for the limited number of appointments available at sites like the All4Oregon project at the Oregon Convention Center.
Now that site (a collaborative effort by Legacy, Kaiser Permanente, Providence, and OHSU) has partnered with OHA to make it easier for older people to get an appointment. What organizers have learned is that working from a list of eligible people and reaching out to them directly is very effective. The lists, curated through OHA, are used to send an individual, non-shareable link to schedule an appointment.
Legacy’s Brian Terrett said the idea came out of earlier efforts to vaccinate teachers at the site.
“When the teachers became eligible, the All4Oregon site was getting a list of eligible teachers from the education service districts, and then links were being sent to those individuals,” said Terrett. “When we looked back, having a list of eligible people and then being able to provide them an appointment link, worked well.”
Before this process, up to 400,000 people were flocking to the log-in site in a single day. The system couldn’t handle the massive traffic from Oregonians hungry for the vaccine (and who could blame them?), and the technology was often overwhelmed.
Before the new registration system was put in place, the site vaccinated 5,200 people a day. Now that number is up to 6,000. Terrett said FEMA representatives visiting the site were impressed by the efficiency.
“They felt like it was one of the best sites they have seen in the country,” he said.