Did you know the Health Department offers free or low-cost family planning services, and also well-woman care?
Women of all ages, regardless of their reproductive status (menopause, hysterectomy, tubal ligation, etc.), can seek care (pelvic exams and Pap smears) from one of the Health Department’s providers.
The Health Department also offers reproductive health services, which are available to women of any age. It is important to note that there is no age of consent in Oregon for birth control; teens can make an appointment without their parents’ permission, and their parents won’t know they used Health Department services unless the teen tells her parents. At their appointment, the women will talk with a provider and select the birth control method which works best for them.
Providers also offer pregnancy testing, STI and HIV testing, health education and counseling, pre-pregnancy services and information and referral to other health and social services.
Our firefighters worked through the night combating the Willowcreek Fire northeast of Vale, Oregon. Growing to 40,000 acres in its first day, it’s our first major wildfire of the summer.
Currently, it is at 0% containment.
Though it began on private land, the fire soon spread to BLM public lands. So far, we’ve had no injuries, no threatened structures, and no evacuations necessary.
Our fire teams are making strategic use of the cooler temperatures and light winds to help slow the burn.
“The winds calmed at about 3 a.m., which gave us a good chance to get around the hot spots on the fire,” said Justin Fenton, BLM Fire Duty Officer.
We were also able to provide aviation support yesterday.
Interstate 84 was closed between Ontario and Baker City for several hours last night due to smoke but has since been reopened.
We’re investigating the cause of the fire, which is currently unknown.
If you’re out recreating this weekend, please help us prevent wildfire by never using fireworks or exploding targets on public lands, properly extinguishing your campfire, and never parking on dry grass.
Knowledgeof HIV status is the first step to accessing prevention or treatment services which enable individuals to live a long and healthy life regardless of their status. HIV testing is free, easy, fast, and confidential at the Malheur County Health Department. Call 541-889-7279 to schedule an appointment.
The importance of HIV testing is included in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States 2022-2025 (PDF 1.76 MB), and one of its objectives, To Increase Knowledge of HIV Status, aligns with NHTD. Further, CDC recommends the following HIV testing:
Everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 should get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care.
Those with certain ongoing risk factors—such as having more than one sex partner since their last HIV test or having sex with someone whose sexual history they don’t know—should get tested annually. Some sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent testing (e.g., every 3 to 6 months).
As part of proactive prenatal care, all pregnant women should receive certain blood tests to detect infections and other illnesses, such as HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B.
COVID-19 vaccines are now available to children 6 months to 18 years, as well as adults of all ages. Call the Malheur County Health Department if you have questions regarding the vaccine, or your eligibility for booster doses, at 541-889-7279, or come in Wednesdays through July 30 from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Worse yet, ivermectin can make some people sick. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, blurred vision, dizziness, increased heart rate, low blood pressure, hallucinations, confusion, loss of coordination and seizures. Some people have also gotten sick by swallowing ivermectin products intended for use on skin (e.g., lotions and creams) or for use in animals.
Long story short: if other medicines are proven to help fight COVID-19 infection, and ivermectin can make some people sick, why take the chance? If you think you have COVID-19, talk to your health care provider (or call 211 if you don’t have one).
To see if the expiration date for your at-home COVID-19 test has been extended, refer to this table, find the row that matches the manufacturer and test name shown on the box label of your test.
If the Expiration Date column says that the shelf-life is “extended,” there is a link to “updated expiration dates” where you can find a list of the original expiration dates and the new expiration dates. Find the original expiration date on the box label of your test and then look for the new expiration date in the “updated expiration dates” table for your test.
If the Expiration Date column does not say the shelf-life is extended, that means the expiration date on the box label of your test is still correct. The table will say “See box label” instead of having a link to updated expiration dates.
Find the FDA Table for the list of approved COVID-19 rapid home tests and their expiration extensions here.
Previous update, 2/2023:
Abbott Laboratories released an update regarding Abbott BinaxNOW expiration dates. Effective immediately, all Abbott BinaxNOW test kits have a shelf life of 22 months from date of manufacture.
iHealth released an update regarding iHealth self-test expiration dates. Effective immediately, all iHealth self-test kits have a shelf life of 15 months from date of manufacture.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will continue to supply Abbott test kits for use under CLIA certification of waiver to health care providers who accept Medicare and Medicaid or otherwise serve vulnerable populations. These testing supplies are expected to remain available through July 2024. Organizations in Oregon may order Abbott BinaxNOW tests here.
OHA will also continue to supply iHealth self-test kits to priority partners serving populations with limited or no access to testing. Priority partners include hospitals, local public health and tribal authorities, organizations serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers, state and federally funded early learning programs, community-based organizations, behavioral health facilities, homeless service sites, and K-12 schools. These testing supplies will remain available until supplies are exhausted. Organizations may order iHealth self-tests here.
iHealth Rapid Antigen tests are authorized for non-prescription home use with self-collected anterior nasal swab samples from individuals age 15 or older who have symptoms of COVID-19 within the first seven days of symptom onset. People age 2-15 may use the test, if an adult collects the swab samples. Test results are available in 15 minutes.
Rapid antigen tests, such as the iHealth tests, are not typically accepted as proof of a negative COVID-19 test for travel.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an order to JUUL Labs Inc. for all of their products currently marketed in the United States. As a result, the company must stop selling and distributing these products. In addition, those currently on the U.S. market must be removed, or risk enforcement action. The products include the JUUL device and four types of JUULpods: Virginia tobacco flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0% and menthol flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%. Retailers should contact JUUL with any questions about products in their inventory.
The ban only pertains to the commercial distribution, importation and retail sales of these products, and do not restrict individual consumer possession or use – the FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumer possession or use of JUUL products or any other tobacco products.
After reviewing the company’s premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), the FDA determined that the applications lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. In particular, some of the company’s study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data – including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the company’s proprietary e-liquid pods – that have not been adequately addressed and precluded the FDA from completing a full toxicological risk assessment of the products named in the company’s applications.
In addition to ensuring that JUUL complies with this order, as with unauthorized products generally, the FDA intends to ensure compliance by distributors and retailers. Specifically, the FDA notes that all new tobacco products on the market without the statutorily required premarket authorization are marketed unlawfully and are subject to enforcement action.
As the FDA has stated in the past, unauthorized electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products for which no application is pending, including for example, those with an MDO, are among our highest enforcement priorities. Therefore, the FDA encourages retailers to discuss products in their inventory with their suppliers including the current status of any particular tobacco product’s marketing application or marketing authorization. Manufacturers will be the best source of that information and retailers should rely on manufacturers directly to inform decisions about which products to continue selling.
There are many resources to help smokers who want to quit. Quitting all tobacco products is the best possible path to good health. Some current JUUL users who will not have access to JUUL products following this action or current smokers who want to transition away from cigarettes and cigars may decide to switch to other ENDS products that have been reviewed and authorized by the FDA based on their potential to benefit adult smokers. If you would like to talk to someone who can help you quit, call 800-QUIT-NOW.
To date, the FDA has authorized 23 ENDS products. Under the PMTA pathway, applicants must demonstrate to the agency, among other things, that permitting the marketing of the new tobacco product would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.
The FDA continues to work to complete its review of the remaining pending applications for deemed products submitted by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline.
Join a free community-focused COVID-19 webinar – offered in English and Spanish – to learn about COVID-19 treatments. Experts from Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Oregon Heath & Science University will discuss everything we know about available COVID-19 treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies and antiviral medication, who is eligible for these treatments and how to access them.
Click the links below to join the live webinars:
English – Thursday, June 23, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Mountain Time Call in: +1-669-254-5252, Meeting ID: 161 027 9494, Passcode: 133296
There will also be an opportunity to ask questions. An ASL interpreter will be present, and closed captioning will be provided. Both webinars will be recorded and posted to the OHA website here.
Both Moderna and Pfizer’s “Little Peds” vaccine, for children ages 6 months to 5 years, has arrived at the Malheur County Health Department, and will be available at two local clinics on Wednesday, June 22.
Walk-in Wednesday, the Health Department’s weekly walk-in vaccine clinic, opens at 9 a.m., closes for lunch, and reopens from 1-4:30 for people interested in being vaccinated. The clinic is located at 1108 SW 4th St., in Ontario. For the first time, Walk-in Wednesday will feature the vaccine for the littlest children.
The Health Department will also offer COVID-19 vaccines for everyone age 6 months and older beginning at noon Wednesday at the Vale Senior Citizen Center, 100 S. Longfellow Ave., in Vale.
COVID-19 vaccines are free, and the Health Department will provide a $25 gift card to everyone who receives a vaccine, including infants and small children.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been more than 2 million cases, 20,000 hospitalizations and 200 deaths in children under 5, due to COVID-19 in the U.S., according to Stanford Children’s Health. Vaccines continue to be effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalization, including in children without any underlying medical conditions. All of the effects of “long COVID” in children are not yet known, and vaccination helps prevent some of the known effects, including Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), and may potentially prevent post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (“long COVID) which has the potential to be very debilitating for young children. Vaccines can protect children, which can in turn reduce the risk of transmission to others.
For children 5-11 years old in the U.S., there has been only one vaccine option available. For children under 5, there are two. The three-dose Pfizer BioNTech vaccine can be given to children 6 months to four years. It is three micrograms per dose. The second dose is given three to eight weeks after the first, and the third dose is given more than eight weeks after the second. The two-dose Moderna vaccine is recommended for children 6 months to 5 years old at a dose of 25 micrograms. The doses are given four to eight weeks apart. Children who are moderately to severely immunocompromised may need additional doses, similar to teens and adults.
The most common side effects parents can expect for their child are a sore arm, headache, fever, and fatigue. Children 6 months to 23 months may be fussy or more sleepy. Symptoms usually occur one to two days after vaccination and are mostly mild and resolve after a few days. parents should contact their primary care provider if they have any specific concerns about side effects from a shot.
Parents who prefer to have their child vaccinated by their own pediatrician are encouraged to call the pediatrician’s office to ensure the vaccine is available, and to schedule an appointment.
Children age 6 months to 5 years may now receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon, after a flurry of weekend activity to approve Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccine. While children could begin to receive the vaccine as early as today (Monday, June 20, 2022), most providers won’t have vaccine in their office, so please contact your provider before taking your child to get a vaccine. Some providers will receive vaccine shipments today, while others won’t have their shipments until later this week, or even after that.
Approval of the vaccine followed the usual protocol, with an FDA committee finding that the benefits of either the two-dose Moderna COVID-19 vaccine series for infants age 6 months through 5 years, or the three-dose Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for infants and children 6 months through 4 years of age substantially outweigh any known or likely risks. Later, the full FDA endorsed the recommendation, and over the weekend, it was endorsed by the CDC, and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, on which Oregon relies for such decisions.
Having your child vaccinated against COVID-19 will help keep them from becoming severely ill with the virus, and help keep them from spreading it to others.
Parents with questions are encouraged to talk to their child’s health care provider to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and the importance of keeping children up-to-date with all the recommended vaccinations.
Some tips for parents of young children being vaccinated are here.
Wildfire information:
Malheur County Health Department 