Mayor Sylvester Turner said Monday that as local leaders adjust their strategies to get shots into the arms of residents, the mega COVID-19 vaccine sites will expand to smaller, more efficient clinics. possible.
Turner visited a new visiting point through the city that was erected Monday at Delmar Stadium along with United Memorial Medical Center, where health workers aim to vaccinate 1,000 people a day. The city was able to vaccinate about 6,100 people when it last held a mega-clinic in Minute Maid Park on January 16, but the operation led to long waiting times and other logistical barriers.
The Delmar website offers shorter waiting times and is a smoother way to go, while the city only receives about 9,000 doses a week, Turner said.
“Until the supply increases exponentially, we have decided to forgo it for the time being,” Turner said of the mega-sites. ‘It caused more inconvenience to set up that bigger yard and get a lot of people through, and then you have the standing waiting times and what do you have. This is just a better way to go. ”
Meanwhile, Harris County announced Tuesday that it will launch a new waiting list for the vaccine, instead of handing out appointments on a first-come, first-served basis. The change is aimed at making reporting easier and more equitable for residents who are not used to responding quickly to computers or mobile phones when healthcare providers announce the availability of a limited number of new vaccination appointments.
Parenting will get a priority, and the province’s system will randomly select recipients for appointments, health officials said. The province will then only issue the selected individuals when new appointments are available, avoiding a scramble for the slots.
“Let me put it bluntly: getting the COVID-19 vaccine does not have to be like the ‘Hunger Games,'” Judge Lina Hidalgo said. “It should not be about who can be the fastest in a browser. do not click. “
Registration for the province’s waiting list will be available on Tuesday at readyharris.org; residents can also call (832) 927-8787 to sign up. Operators will be available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Houston does not adopt a similar enrollment program, though leaders have said seniors are eligible for a waiting list to get appointments in the city as well. Turner said no strategy would be able to compensate for the limited supply of vaccine.
“The other side of it: you can set up a waiting list, and you can have 100,000 people on your waiting list,” Turner said. The question people will ask is, ‘When do we get it? ‘Suppose their time may last in February, or March, but people do not want to wait that long. It just varies. ”
How do I sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine?
Houston: No appointments are currently available. Sign up for the HoustonRecovers options at houstonemergency.org/alerts to receive email or text notifications when new appointments become available. Elderly people can also call 832-393-4301 to get on a waiting list.
Harris County: Start Tuesday, register at readyharris.org or call (832) 927-8787 to get on the waiting list.
The city and province said they would not turn away residents.
There are currently no appointments available for city clinics. The health department regularly opened new appointments on Friday afternoons and demands were made within minutes. Residents can receive text and email notifications about new appointments by signing up for the “HoustonRecovers” option at houstonemergency.org/alerts.
Elderly people can also call the Harris County Area Agency on Aging at 832-393-4301 to get on the city’s waiting list. When the city opens new appointments, it will book a certain number of slots for those people.
The city and province said they would not turn away residents.
Appointments are difficult to reach for most, an indication that the supply of vaccine pales in comparison to the overwhelming demand.
The city and county clinics form only a small part of the vaccination campaign in the region, and hospitals, pharmacies and medical providers play more important roles.
Houston gave about 31,000 shots and Harris County 27,000 shots. That’s about 14 percent of the 408,671 doses given in Harris County, according to a Chronicle analysis of data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Texas remains in Phase 1B of its vaccine distribution plan. This means that eligible residents are restricted to frontline workers, people aged 65 and over, and people with certain high-risk medical conditions.
These include cancer; chronic kidney disease; COPD; heart disease such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy; solid organ transplantation; obesity; pregnancy; sickle cell disease; a type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The Houston region has 452,585 cases of COVID-19 and 5,577 deaths as of Monday. The city on Monday reported its largest number of cases ever in a single day, 3,039, though Turner said it was mostly due to system adjustments.
Much of Texas still sees high hospitalization rates; In 21 of the state’s 22 trauma services areas, COVID-19 hospitalizations make up more than 15 percent of total hospital capacity, the threshold meaning ‘high hospitalizations’. Houston’s service area on Monday exceeded the 15% threshold for the 26th consecutive day.
The state-wide positive test rate for COVID-19 infections rose to 14.75 percent, from 16.57 percent on Friday.
Stephanie Lamm contributed to this report.