New report shows Washington County and partners are closing the COVID-19 vaccination equity gap.

For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 30, 2021

In the last four months, vaccination rates among Hispanic/Latina/o/x adults in Washington County have increased by 16 percentage points, and by 17 percentage points among Black adults in Washington County. In a new, COVID-19 vaccination equity update, the county says community partnerships are largely responsible for this progress.

“More than 70 community partners in Washington County collaborated to make progress on closing the COVID-19 vaccination equity gap. These organizations co-created strategies that increased access to culturally and linguistically appropriate vaccine resources. As a result, thousands of people received vaccinations from our mobile and stationary clinics,” said Marie Boman-Davis, Washington County Public Health Division Manager. “We are grateful to all of our partners for sharing community wisdom and connections to help close the vaccination equity gap,” added Boman-Davis.

Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, the county’s largest federally qualified health center, has distributed more than 55,000 vaccinations, with more than 80% provided to people of color and others hard hit by the pandemic.

“Providing access to the COVID-19 vaccine for our patients and the communities we serve has been a priority since January of 2021,” said Virginia Garcia CEO Gil Muñoz. “We are proud of the hard work our clinics and mobile unit have made over the past several months and will continue to work with other community organizations and Washington County to ensure access to the vaccine for anyone that needs it.”

Washington County submitted the new report to Oregon Health Authority this week to respond to the agency’s request for an update to the first vaccination equity report submitted on May 14, 2021. Highlights of the new report include:

• Washington County was the first county in the state to vaccinate 80% of adults. Governor Brown congratulated the county and partner Adelante Mujeres at the Forest Grove Farmers Market during a weekly vaccination clinic.
• In five of six ethnic/racial groups, Washington County has higher adult vaccination rates compared to the Oregon state average.
• The county’s mobile vaccination team partners with community organizations to bring the vaccine to locations where people live, work and shop. The team travels Tuesday through Saturday. The new report includes a video about how the team is helping to close the vaccination equity gap.
• Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, the county’s largest federally qualified health center, has distributed more than 55,000 vaccinations, many to people of color and others hard hit by the pandemic.
• The report also includes examples of how the county used constructive feedback from community organizations to adapt and change strategies to be more inclusive and responsive to community needs.

Despite this progress, there is still a vaccination gap in Washington County with Black and Latina/o/x adult vaccination rates about 15 percentage points lower than the median rates of other racial/ethnic groups in the county. The county is committed to continuing this work with partners to close the COVID-19 vaccination equity gap.

Read the full Washington County COVID-19 vaccine equity update.

This information is also available in Spanish.

To receive this information in another language contact [email protected]

Media Contact:

Mary Sawyers, Communications Coordinator
503-726-6459
[email protected]