You knew it was coming. At least one state was going to figure out a way to work in race as a determining factor on COVID vaccine preference.
The Oregon Vaccine Advisory Committee put together by Democrat Gov. Kate Brown is calling for the prioritizing of vaccines for residents who are Black, Indigenous or people of color.
They want minorities vaccinated before:
- adults in custody
- frontline workers
- essential workers (farmworkers, meat packers, etc.),
- families in multigenerational home
- people in low-income senior housing and other congregate living for people under 65
The Oregonian reports that when some members of the committee suggested prioritizing residents with pre-existing, one member of the committee that represents a Native American group said that thinking is basically racists, saying the committee is "dealing with our own conditioning of white supremacy as it is showing up in our decision making."
The Committee will meet again on Thursday to further discuss and perhaps begin the process to implement their race-based vaccine plan.
However, The Oregon Legislature’s Black, Indigenous and People of Color Caucus has come out against the committee’s race based plan.
“We strongly believe that we need to prioritize the people who are in significantly vulnerable situations and who are dying right now---frontline workers, adults in custody, and people in low-income senior housing and other congregate care facilities. We are concerned about the way this is being framed and how these groups, most of whom are disproportionately BIPOC, are pitted against each other and against BIPOC communities in general.
We urge the VAC to base its decisions on the data of who is most vulnerable because of their occupation or living situation. The data shows that people in congregate care settings, adults in custody, and families in multigenerational homes, are most vulnerable. We also want to ensure that frontline and essential workers who risk their lives every day--working in our warehouses, farms, grocery stores, delivery systems, restaurants, and other front-facing organizations that provide direct services to the public--are protected. This is how we can give thanks to frontline and essential workers for their many sacrifices--by prioritizing them in our actions, not just our words.”