On May 18, Governor Kate Brown distributed a press release indicating that five Oregon counties would be moving to the Lower Risk level starting May 21.
Those five counties are:
- Benton
- Deschutes
- Hood River
- Lincoln
- Washington
The announcement comes in light of the Governor’s newly established criteria, which allow counties to apply for Lower Risk so long as they have submitted a plan to comprehensively address equity gaps in their vaccination rollout and have vaccinated at least 65% of individuals 16 and older in their respective counties. All five of the counties moving to Lower Risk on May 21 have met these criteria.
Every week, other Oregon counties will have the opportunity to fulfill these criteria as well, with the next available opportunity to apply for Lower Risk happening on Tuesday, May 25. Counties that meet the criteria required by May 25 will be moved to Lower Risk on Friday, May 28.
As Oregon counties create their equity plans, OHA will post these documents on its main COVID-19 website. The equity plans that have been submitted for the counties moving to Lower Risk on May 21 have already been posted (Benton, Deschutes, Hood River, Lincoln and Washington).
OHA has also created a new dashboard to house Oregon’s data related to overall vaccination progress. The dashboard displays vaccination progress at both the county and statewide level, as well as information about the number of individuals 16 and older who still need to get vaccinated for a county to reach the 65% vaccination threshold.
OHA will continue to post updates about counties moving to Lower Risk every Tuesday as this process continues.