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.
LIVE UPDATE: Texas COVID Vaccine Detection
Harris County Public Health
How to register: Harris County Public Health registers anyone regardless of age or occupation on their online waiting list. The system prioritizes people according to the criteria for vaccination. You may not schedule an appointment until you are in a priority group. https://vacstrac.hctx.net/landing
Patients going to Harris Health can call 713-873-8777 to make an appointment with COVID-19.
Houston Department of Health
How to register: The department now has two waiting lists available for the COVID-19 vaccine: one for Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose range, and one for Johnson & Johnson. You can sign up for automated emails, text messages, voice calls, or mobile notifications for appointments at https://HoustonEmergency.org/covid19.
Montgomery county
How to register: Montgomery County has launched a waiting list at https://mcphd-tx.org/. The district’s public health district completes vaccination appointments from the waiting list. District officials said they should monitor the province’s Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.
Fort bend county
How to register: Visit their website at https://vaccinewaitlist.fortbendcountytx.gov/ to register for the waiting list. The province’s health and human services department recommends taking the vaccine elsewhere if given the opportunity.
Galveston county
How to register: Galveston County and the University of Texas Medical Branch have launched their own waiting list, available by phone or via the Internet. People interested in getting the vaccine can register regardless of where they live and whether they are a UTMB patient. Visit their website at https://www.utmb.edu/covid-19/vaccine or call 877-389-2318.
Brazoria county
How to register: Visit the Brazoria County Government website at https://www.brazoriacountytx.gov/ or call one of four clinics to make an appointment: Angleton (979) 864-1484
Alvin (281) 585-3024
Lake Jackson (979) 265-4446
Pearland (281) 485-5344
UTMB also vaccinates on its Angleton Danbury campus. Visit their website at https://www.utmb.edu/covid-19/vaccine to sign up for the waiting list.
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.