All Texans 50 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine from Monday, which will expand the pool of potential recipients to nearly half of the state’s population.
Now the question is how to find a shot. So far, 4.7 million Texans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, a vaccination rate of 15.8 percent which is one of the worst in the country.
Government officials say they are going as fast as they can. They complain that the federal government is not sending enough vaccine because it uses old population data to calculate the share in Texas.
More than half of Texans over the age of 65 received at least their first dose, a milestone the state reached last week.
Texas is now vaccinating members of priority groups 1A and 1B – a sub-collection of more than 10 million people that includes health care workers, Texans 65 and older, and all over the age of 15 with a comorbidity.
Last week, officials made the state’s 1.3 million teachers and child care staff eligible for a dose, a victory for educators who argued they earned access earlier because of their exposure to students at work. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has instructed all states to make the change.
Those 50 years and older will be included in priority group 1C, which will expand the capacity to 12 to 14 million people. More than 93 percent of Texans who died from the virus were older than 49 years.
“We have seen a remarkable decrease in the number of hospitalizations and deaths since people aged 65 and over began vaccinating in full in January,” Imelda Garcia, chair of the state’s expert panel of expert vaccines, said Wednesday. “Expansion to the age of 50 to 64 will continue the state’s priorities to protect those most at risk of serious consequences and to preserve the state’s health system.”
There are an estimated 5 million Texans between the ages of 50 and 64, a group that accounted for more than 20 percent of the deaths in the state. More than 1 million Texans between the ages have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, health officials said.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that essential workers – including police officers, firefighters, grocery stores, food service workers and journalists – be given priority over the vaccine over individuals over 50.
This week, Texas received more than 1 million first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, a record number that can mostly be attributed to the addition of 240,000 units of the one-shot vaccine Johnson & Johnson. But next week, Texas will not receive any doses of the vaccine due to a federal shortage, Garcia said.
She expects the weekly supply to rise again at the end of the month.
Three vaccines have been approved for distribution in the United States. Two of them, made by Pfizer and Moderna, require two shots – which are administered about a month apart – for complete vaccination. The third is the single-vaccine vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson.
The 1C announcement comes on the same day that Texas lifted its COVID restrictions, including the masked order implemented by Gov. Greg Abbott last year to slow the spread of the virus. Abbott cites the rapid increase in vaccinations as part of the reason for the removal of state mandates.
“Most seniors have already had a chance,” the governor tweeted Wednesday. ‘Elderly people who have not been given a chance and want one will still be given preference. Always voluntary. ”
Local officials praised the announcement as another step towards normality.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Stephen Williams, director of the Houston Department of Health. “With the vaccine, we can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we can’t wait.”
While the federal government continues to increase the supply sent to state and local vaccine providers, cities still need additional doses to maintain the flow of vaccines going to the communities at greatest risk for the virus.
Officials have launched a series of new initiatives in recent weeks to reach vulnerable groups, including two mobile vaccination programs for senior residents and rural Texans. The state has also partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to open three mega-vaccine sites in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, with the goal of vaccinating underserved communities.
Black and Hispanic Texans were excessively affected by the pandemic, but also received the vaccine at lower doses than white people.
Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County welcomed the move to Phase 1C.
“There is hope on the horizon, and little by little we will go through our population,” Hidalgo said. “It’s the time to keep wearing our masks, keep avoiding crowds and get the vaccine as soon as it’s available.”
Provincial officials will continue to push for state and federal partners for more vaccines, she said. In Harris County, 1.1 million doses were administered, and more than 351,000 people were fully vaccinated, according to Hearst Newspapers data.
According to Hidalgo, the challenge is not enough doses to hand out to everyone on the waiting lists.
‘We knew it would be until summer until we hit most of our population. It will require constant patience and perseverance, and we ask the community to continue to stick to this, ‘she said.
In Galveston, the Department of Health, in collaboration with the University of Texas Medical Division, is working on mass vaccination efforts.
“What I think DSHS is doing is taking the temperature in the state, and especially for places with waiting lists like us, and seeing that we get the people we are targeting and decide it’s time to move on,” the dr. Philip Keizer, a professor of medicine at UTMB and the local health authority in Galveston County. ‘We have a lot of people on our waiting list between 50 and 64 and do not have as many people over 75. We have over 65, but not many. It is not enough to continue to vaccinate people at the same rate. ”
Staff Writer Jeremy Wallace reported.