Oregon’s Covid-19 Wave Is at Its Worst Despite High Vaccination Rate

When the Covid-19 vaccines came out, Kelsea Robinson, manager of the intensive care unit at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in southern Oregon, said she thought the worst was finally behind her. Oregon has the 12th highest vaccination rate in the U.S., with 58% of all residents fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the Mayo Clinic—but the intensive care units in Asante’s three hospitals are overflowing with Covid-19 patients. They can’t transfer elsewhere in the state because most Oregon hospitals are in a similar situation. At one Asante hospital, the pipes that carry oxygen recently began to freeze because Covid-19 patients were using so much.