Oregonians Must Gain Weight to Get COVID Vaccine by April 19th

According to the Oregon Health Authority, Oregonians between the ages of 16 and 44 have until April 19th to gain enough weight to qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine if they do not already have an underlying health condition and are not considered to be frontline workers. That is because obesity is on the list of underlying conditions and it is clearly defined as anyone with a BMI over 30. The CDC has a free online BMI calculator for those wondering if they are obese at https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html where you simply enter your current height and weight. If your BMI is already over 30 you qualify as obese and need only maintain your weight to qualify. You should make sure to verify your status as an obese person with your doctor as soon as you are aware of your condition before April 19th so that people know you are not just claiming to be obese because you are fat.

If you are a border line case make sure to eat more fatty foods between now and April 19th so that you know that you will still qualify by then. Weigh yourself regularly and use the BMI calculator. If you are not obese then you should figure out how much weight you need to gain to be considered obese and start eating more if you think you can gain that much. People can easily gain as much as 5 or even 10 pounds per week if they do it right. Just increase your calorie intake by finding the most fattening foods you can think of and eating as much as you can. If you only need to gain 20 pounds or less then you should consider eating all of your meals at McDonald's and supersizing them. In 2004, documentary film maker Morgan Spurlock gained 24 pounds by eating only at McDonald's for a month (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me) and you can too.

The Oregon Health Authority defines underlying health conditions as follows:

Cancer

• Chronic kidney disease

• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

• Down Syndrome

• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies

• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant or HIV

• Obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2)

• Pregnancy

• Sickle cell disease

• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

The Oregon Health Authority defines frontline workers as follows:

• A frontline worker is someone who has a job that puts the individual at higher risk for contracting COVID-19 because of:

» Regular close contact with others outside of their household (less than six feet); and

» Routine (more than 15 minutes per person(s)) close contact with others outside of their household; and

» They cannot perform their job duties from home or another setting that limits the close or routine contact with others outside of their household.

These include†

:

• Vaccine manufacturing, and manufacturing of therapeutics, devices, supplies, or personal

protective equipment

• Other food and agriculture not included in Phase 1b, Group 6, including ranching, beverage

manufacturing, nurseries, garden centers, farm supply stores, veterinary services, fishing and

hunting, forestry

• Grocery stores and retail (any) stores, including food markets, pharmacies, convenience stores,

retail clothing and specialty stores

• Community colleges, colleges, universities, vocational rehabilitation, trade and professional

schools and related educational support services, administration of education programs

• U.S. Postal Service

• Public transit, including rural, interurban and urban bus and rail operators, school and employee

bus transportation, special needs transportation

• Manufacturing, including wood, paper, petroleum, coal, asphalt, roofing, chemical, plastics, metal,

industrial machinery, computers, electronics, transportation, cabinet and countertops, medical

equipment, repair and maintenance, industrial design services

• Transportation and logistics for any industry included in Phase 1b, including air, rail, water, truck,

taxi, limousine, charter bus, other transit and ground passenger transportation, driving schools,

wholesalers, warehousing, storage and delivery services, packaging and labeling, motor vehicle

and parts dealers, electronic shopping and parts dealers, transportation rental and leasing, and

repair and maintenance, related services

• Food service, including restaurants and bars, commissaries, community food service

• Energy, including utilities, oil and gas extraction, mining, gas stations, fuel dealers, fuel delivery,

environmental consulting, utilities

• Water and wastewater, solid waste management and recycling, including utilities

• Housing, including construction, contractors, real estate, community housing services, affordable

housing programs, traveler accommodations, commercial accommodations, interior design,

architectural, engineering and related services.

• Information technology and communications, including software publishing, telecommunications,

data processing, hosting and related services, internet publishing and broadcasting and web

search portals, computer system design and related services, consumer electronics repair and

maintenance, communication equipment repair and maintenance

• News media, including broadcasting and publishing, newsstands

• Child day care services not included in Phase 1b, groups 1-4, including day camps and afterschool activities.

• Public health, including scientific and technical consulting, research and development,

administration

• Health care and related services not included in Phase 1a, including services for elderly and

persons with disabilities, other individual and family services, funeral homes and funeral services,

cemeteries and crematories

• Public safety not included in Phase 1a, including, including civil engineering, waste management

and remediation services, human services and social services, such as child protective services

• Finance, including banks, credit intermediation, credit bureaus, securities, commodities contracts,

financial investments and related activities, accounting, tax preparation, payroll services,

company management,

• Legal, including courts staff, judges, attorneys, court reporting, parole and probation offices

• Government, including employees and contractors performing services or business for the public,

and elected officials, libraries

• State of Oregon legislative and executive branch as specified by the Department of Administrative

Services (DAS)

• Other: Investigation and security services, zoos and botanical gardens, nature parks and similar

institutions, amusement and recreation industries, appliance repair and maintenance, personal and

household goods repair and maintenance, pet care, drying cleaning and laundry services, religious

organizations, private household services (e.g. in-home child care, housecleaning, in-home repair),

administration of conservation programs