Weekday Wrap: Health officer urges vaccines for kids as state deadline nears

By OPB staff (OPB)
Feb. 14, 2023 9:43 p.m.

Stories you may have missed from news briefs and our partners across the region.

Deadline approaches for children in schools, child care to get vaccinated

Oregon state law requires that all children attending schools or child care programs be vaccinated against a short list of life-threatening diseases. Children who do not have proof of vaccination or a valid exemption certificate on file by Wednesday will be excluded from school until they can file the required documentation. Speaking from a busy vaccination clinic in East Portland last week, Dr. Ann Loeffler said she had seen children die of vaccine-preventable diseases in her career. Loeffler, a deputy health officer for Multnomah County’s health department, thinks the state’s laws help push some people to stay up-to-date on vaccines.

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“I wish everyone would be able to get the information that they would feel like they could weigh the risks and benefits for their child’s health and that they’d be comfortable, but that’s not where we’re at in our society,” Loeffler said.

The list of required vaccinations includes shots that prevent measles, hepatitis, polio and chicken pox, among others. COVID-19 shots are not required. (OPB Staff)

Related Link: With Oregon schools’ deadline looming, pop-up clinics get kids immunized

Program aims to curb mussel poaching at Haystack Rock

Haystack Rock has long provided stunning views near Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast, drawing an estimated 200,000 tourists a year to the area. It’s also home to large populations of mussels that people frequently poach for a meal, an activity that staff and volunteers for the city-run Haystack Rock Awareness Program are trying to stop. Mussel harvesting is permitted elsewhere along Oregon’s rock shores, but it’s restricted at the coastal landmark to preserve the ecosystem, which includes sea stars that have been decimated by disease in recent years. (Katie Frankowicz/KMUN)

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Fate of demolished flour mill site remains unknown

Six months after fire gutted Grain Craft’s flour mill in Pendleton, the fate of the site remains unknown. Grain Craft, which operates 12 flour mills around the country, has announced no new plans. Former Pendleton Flour Mills employees said they’re unaware of Grain Craft’s intentions but longtime CEO Tony Flagg speculated the mill is unlikely to be rebuilt, given declining demand for pastry flour, which is what comes from milling the region’s soft white winter wheat. But Flagg said the surviving grain elevator and warehouse might find buyers. (John Tillman/East Oregonian)

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Trio of bills would ban or reduce plastics in Oregon

A trio of bills in the Oregon Senate could soon make grocery shopping and dining out more eco-friendly. Senate Bill 545 would allow consumers to use their own clean containers at grocery stores and restaurants while SB 543 would ban the sale of prepared food in polystyrene foam containers, and the sale of those containers, as well as foam packing peanuts. The third bill, SB 544, would create a program to reduce the use of single-use plastic food ware and packaging. Earlier this month, the Oregon Department of Agriculture adopted rules that would allow customers to bring their own reusable food containers to grocery stores. (Tracy Loew/Salem Statesman Journal)

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Oregon joins 21 other states in defending legal access to medication abortion nationwide

A coalition of attorneys general is asking a US district court to reject a case against federal approval of the medication abortion drug -- mifepristone. The drug was approved by the FDA decades ago, but an anti-abortion group, Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a lawsuit against that approval in Texas. They argue the FDA overstepped its authority in approving the drug by using an accelerated review process. In its legal response, the agency denies this claim. The group of attorneys general, including Ellen Rosenblum in Oregon, argues that requiring the FDA to suspend its approval of mifepristone risks undermining the approval process for all drugs. Experts also say pulling the drug could increase the need for surgical abortion and further increase wait times at clinics. (Alex Hasenstab/OPB)

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