Baker County officials are bracing for a rising demand for COVID-19 vaccinations.

But this time the interest is not so much in first or second doses, but third, or “booster” doses.

“People are wanting booster doses,” said Nancy Staten, director of the Baker County Health Department.

The demand is driven by the Food and Drug Administration’s Oct. 14 approval of booster shots of the Moderna vaccine, Staten said.

A large majority of the COVID-19 vaccine doses given in Baker County so far were the Moderna product.

According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), 78% of the nearly 14,100 doses administered in the county were of the Moderna vaccine.

The Pfizer vaccine, by contrast, which received federal approval for booster shots on Sept. 22, accounts for 14% of doses given in the county. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine accounts for a little more than 7% of doses.

Federal officials have said, however, that people eligible for a third dose don’t have to take the same vaccine that they had originally.

According to OHA data, a total of 91 vaccine doses were given in Baker County on Tuesday, Oct. 26 — 75 Moderna doses, 12 Pfizer doses and four Johnson & Johnson doses. The OHA database doesn’t distinguish between first, second or booster doses.

Tuesday’s total of 91 doses was the most given in the county since May 27, when 94 doses were given — 48 Moderna, 31 Pfizer and 15 Johnson & Johnson.

Federal officials recommend a booster dose for people 65 and older, for residents of long-term care facilities who are 18 or older, and for people who have compromised immune systems or other underlying medical conditions.

The booster dose, which is designed to reverse declining levels of protection against the virus, is also recommended for certain types of workers, including first responders, health care workers and grocery store employees.

Staten said county officials might schedule large-scale vaccination clinics to handle the demand.

The Health Department put on several such clinics at Baker High School in February, March and April.

The county administered more than 600 doses, all of them the Moderna vaccine, on each of four days — Feb. 26, March 12, March 26 and April 9.

Health clinics and pharmacies have also administered COVID-19 vaccines, including the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Even with the age recommendations for booster doses, there is a large potential demand for those doses in Baker County.

Almost 4,100 county residents ages 60 or older have been vaccinated. That’s about 24% of the county’s population.

That age range, which accounts for almost 38% of the county’s population, also has by far the highest vaccination rate in the county.

• Ages 80 and older, 71% — 785 of 1,106 residents vaccinated. The statewide vaccination rate in this age group is 81.8%.

• Ages 70 to 79, 69.8% — 1,530 of 2,192 residents vaccinated. The statewide vaccination rate in this age group is 89.7%.

• Ages 60 to 69, 57% — 1,758 of 3,082 residents vaccinated. The statewide vaccination rate in this age group is 80.6%.

Overall, Baker County’s vaccination rate, which had been the sixth- or seventh-lowest among Oregon’s 36 counties for much of the summer, has been overtaken by Harney County and now has the fifth-lowest rate, with 53.1% of residents 18 and older vaccinated.

Harney County, which has had infection rates and test positivity percentages near the highest in the state over the past month or so, has a vaccination rate of 53.3%.

The four counties with lower rates than Baker County’s:

• Lake, 43.2%

• Malheur, 46.6%

• Gilliam, 48.2%

• Grant, 48.8%

Rates among other counties in the region:

• Union, 57%

• Umatilla, 53.5%

• Morrow, 55.1%

• Wallowa, 66.6%

Cases drop, average age rises

With three days left in the month, October’s case count was down by about 66% compared with September, which set a record with 465 cases, an average of 15.5 per day.

From Oct. 1-28, Baker County had 170 cases, a daily average of about 5.8.

The average age of people who tested positive increased during the first half of October.

From Oct. 1-15, residents ages 60 to 69 accounted for 25.6% of the county’s cases, the largest percentage in any age range.

During September, by contrast, people in their 60s accounted for 9.8% of Baker County’s cases.

During September, most of the county’s record-setting number of cases — about 69% — were in residents younger than 50.

But during the first half of October, residents younger than 50 accounted for 33.6% of the county’s cases.

Residents 70 and older continue to account for a relatively small percentage of the county’s cases.

There were no such cases in the county during the first half of October.

During September, people 70 and older accounted for 9.9% of the county’s cases.

Breakthrough cases

Baker County’s percentage of breakthrough cases — infections in people who are fully vaccinated — has increased over the past month, as overall cases have declined.

The OHA’s most recent breakthrough case report, released Thursday, Oct. 27, covers the week Oct. 17-23. During that week, 12 of the county’s 51 cases were breakthrough — a rate of 23.5%.

The statewide breakthrough case rate for that week was 27.9% — 2,156 of 7,723 total cases.

Statewide, the number of total cases has dropped in eight consecutive weeks.

In Baker County, after a record weekly total of 139 cases from Sept. 12-18, weekly totals dropped for four straight weeks. There were 37 cases the week Oct. 10-16, a drop of almost 74% from the record week.

The county’s case total rose to 51 from Oct. 17-23.

The current week is on pace to have the fewest cases since mid-July. For the first five days of the week, Oct. 24-28, the county reported 17 cases. The county has had fewer than 10 cases every day since Oct. 20, the longest such streak since mid-July.

There are no active workplace or school outbreaks in the county, according to the OHA.

Staten said the Health Department’s contact tracers have found several recent instances of multiple people in the same household being infected.

“We are seeing a decline, and that’s refreshing,” Staten said. “But the virus is still in the community and we need to take precautions.”

The county’s test positivity rate dropped to 12% for the week Oct. 10-16, the lowest rate since mid-July.

The positivity rate rose to 14% from Oct. 17-23. For the current week, starting Oct. 24, the positivity rate, for the first four days of the week, was 9.2%.