The hospital said it would receive 4,000 doses and distribute them to those considered high-risk and who had the appointments canceled.
UTMB Health announced on Monday 11 January that they had to cancel 6,000 appointments for first doses. People with the appointments for a second dose are still scheduled to get it, the hospital says.
“We want to make sure that people who have already promised us the vaccine, that they get the vaccine,” said dr. Philip Keizer told the UTMB Galveston and the Galveston County Health Authority.
According to officials, UTMB Health had no vaccines for the first doses on Wednesday, January 13, and did not send them again at the beginning of the week.
READ MORE: Appointments canceled while counties in southeast Texas await vaccination
The cargo of 4,000 vaccines the hospital received this week was allocated to them before they were designated a hub.
“We have been asked to vaccinate up to 2,000 people a day, and I think we are capable at the moment,” Keizer said. “Now, with the doses we’re going to get this week, we’ll probably get through it in three or four days. The second thing is that we’re also told to expect to be able to vaccinate up to 5,000 people. Per yard, per day, and it’s going to take a while to get to that capacity, but we think we can do it. ‘
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Dr Keizer said hubs could potentially draw resources from other areas, meaning rural communities could be affected by this. But eventually, hubs will be located in other areas to increase access to the state and our communities.
He also said another factor that could help speed up the explosion of the vaccine is the single & vaccine Johnson & Johnson, which, if approved, would be the third vaccine in circulation, possibly as early as February.
For now, the hospital will reach out directly to people who canceled their first dose appointments last week.
“Although we do not currently have a stockpile of vaccines to begin with mass vaccinations, we look forward to working with partners in the region we serve to bring COVID-19 vaccines to our patients and our community when supplies become available.” UTMB Health said in a statement.
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UTMB Health is offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which according to a recent study could protect against a mutation found in the two more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
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