Houston area will receive influx of vaccine COVID-19 this week

The Greater Houston area will receive an influx of more than 62,000 COVID-19 vaccines this week, driven by an increase in the number of vaccines provided to the state by the federal government and large allocations to suppliers in Houston areas. , state officials announced Friday.

‘The increase in available vaccine is due to two factors: a 30 percent increase in the number of Moderna doses provided by the federal government to the state, and a one-time return of 126,750 doses of Pfizer vaccine for which Texas had to be set aside for the federal pharmacy partnership for long-term care program, ”the health officials said in a release. “The program overestimated the amount of vaccine needed, and so doses are returned to the states.”

The Texas Department of Health Services said the doses of the long-term care program are being awarded to providers in counties where the grants’ were significantly less than their share of the population, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston suburbs. ”

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In total, Texas will receive 520,425 first-dose COVID-19 vaccines from the federal government for the week of Feb. 1. More than 62,000 of the doses will be given to suppliers in the Greater Houston area, including in Harris, Fort Bend, Liberty. , Provinces of Montgomery, Chambers and Galveston. The Harris County Public Health Department and the City of Houston Public Health Department will receive 9,000 vaccinations.

In addition to the first doses that came in, the state ordered 188,225 doses that were intended as the second dose for people who were first vaccinated a few weeks ago.

Currently, Texans are only eligible for the vaccine if they are prominent health care workers, nursing home residents, 65 years or older, or have a medical condition that increases the risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.

“Vaccination remains limited due to the ability of the manufacturers to manufacture it, so it will take time for Texas to receive enough vaccine for all the people in the populations who want to be put first,” state health officials said in a release. “There is currently not enough vaccine to provide each provider with vaccine every week.”

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As of Friday, Texas suppliers have administered nearly 2.2 million doses of the vaccine. More than 1.75 million people received at least one dose, and more than 410,000 received both doses.