Do North Texans have to prove they have underlying health conditions to get the COVID-19 vaccine?

As COVID-19 vaccines become more available to older Texans and those with underlying health conditions, there remains confusion about how those who qualify under the state rollout plan are expected to qualify.

Healthcare providers have access to medical records and may be eligible for patients over the vaccine. But state information or local vaccination sites have no medical files.

And while health officials want initial vaccines to go to those at higher risk of developing serious diseases – a step that will reduce the burden on overwhelming healthcare systems – they also do not want to make it difficult to be vaccinated.

Currently, Texans eligible for the vaccine according to the state plan include leading health care workers and those in long-term care facilities known as Phase 1A, and those older than 65 and people 16 and older who have underlying health conditions known as Phase 1B.

Health conditions on the state list include, but are not limited to, cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Down syndrome, certain heart conditions, recipients of organ transplants, obesity and severe obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease and type 2-diabetes.

The state health department has told health care providers to refer to medical records to confirm the underlying health conditions. If the provider does not have access, people eligible under Phase 1B can disclose their conditions – but they do not have to provide documentation, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the department.

“We do not want to create barriers that will prevent people from being vaccinated,” Anton said. “It is important to remember that every person who is vaccinated helps to slow down the spread of the virus.”

The Dallas County Department of Health, which has designated the state as a vaccination center, focuses on those over 75 and has not yet opened appointments for Category 1B younger people. Philip Huang, director of the province’s health department, will not need medical records.

While it is possible that someone may be dishonest about his or her 1B status, people need to remember that the purpose of the phase-one explosion is to ‘make the limited vaccine we have practical’, Huang said.

“We hope that people will understand everyone and hope that everyone would rather protect their grandparents and their mother and others’ grandparents and mothers, and understand that this is in our best interest,” he said.

Dr Matt Richardson, director of the Denton County Department of Health, also a vaccination center, said the country has done its best to balance to ensure people are eligible and honest about their status and to “so many doses in to get as many arms as possible. “

“It will bother us if people are not honest, and yet it is a small price to pay,” he said. “It will bother us much more if we withhold vaccinations and delay an efficient, effective process.”

The departments of the provinces of Tarrant and Collin were also designated as vaccines. A Collin County spokesman said patients do not have to submit medical records to get an appointment. Tarrant County did not respond to requests for comment.

Dr. John Carlo, CEO of Prism Health North Texas, said the eligibility criteria at the Dallas County Vaccination Site, which is intended to provide vaccines to non-employed communities, and data showing that the first COVID-19 vaccines to prosperous, northern neighborhoods bothered him more than the idea that people should cross the line.

“If we focus more on how successful we are in reaching those who need to be reached, and are less concerned about rejecting people who do not meet the criteria, I think it will serve the community better,” Carlo said. .

Dallas County raised the same question about verifying fitness when vaccines became available during the H1N1 flu outbreak, Carlo said. He was at the time director of the province’s health department.

Carlo said the deployment of the H1N1 vaccine was not as complex or widespread as the roll-out of COVID-19. The logistics and distribution guidelines were entirely up to the province, he said.

Because it was a flu virus, officials decided to focus first on children with underlying health conditions. He said the department is considering requiring parents to provide documentation, but eventually realizes it should tax both parents and health officials.

“Once you have 300 people in line, you will not be able to sit there and screen,” Carlo said. “As soon as you start dismissing too many people, you deny people. The ultimate question is, will you ever come back if you turn them away that day? And then you defeated the whole point, namely to bring the vaccines to everyone there as soon as possible. ”