Texans 50+ May Receive COVID Vaccine Starting Next Monday

State officials say they are going as fast as possible. They complained that the federal government is not sending enough vaccines because it uses old demographics to calculate Texas’ share.

More than half of Texans over 65 have received at least their first dose, a milestone the state reached last week.

Texas is vaccinating members of priority groups 1A and 1B – a subset of more than 10 million people that includes healthcare workers, Texans 65 and over, and anyone over 15. who has a co-morbid condition.

Officials last week made the 1.3 million teachers and childcare workers eligible for a dose, a victory for educators who argued they deserved faster access because of their on-the-job exposure to students. The US Department of Health and Human Services had called on all states to make this change.

LIVE UPDATES: Texas COVID vaccine tracking

Harris County Public Health

How to Apply: Harris County Public Health puts everyone, regardless of age or profession, on its online waiting list. The system will prioritize people based on state criteria for vaccination. You will not be allowed to schedule an appointment until you are in a priority group. https://vacstrac.hctx.net/landing

Patients coming to Harris Health can call 713-873-8777 to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Houston Department of Health

How to Apply: The department now has two waiting lists for the COVID-19 vaccine: one for the two-dose series from Pfizer and Moderna and another for Johnson & Johnson. You can sign up to receive automatic notifications by email, text, voice call or mobile app for dates at https://HoustonEmergency.org/covid19.

Montgomery County

How to Apply: Montgomery County has launched a waiting list at https://mcphd-tx.org/. The county public health district completes vaccine appointments from the waiting list. District officials said they were monitoring the county’s Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

Fort Bend County

How to Sign Up: Visit their website at https://vaccinewaitlist.fortbendcountytx.gov/ to sign up for the waitlist. The county health and human services department recommends taking the vaccine elsewhere if the opportunity arises.

Galveston County

How to Apply: Galveston County and the University of Texas Medical Branch have launched their own waiting list, accessible by phone or the Internet. People interested in getting vaccinated can register regardless of their place of residence or if it is a UTMB patient. Visit their website at https://www.utmb.edu/covid-19/vaccine or call 877-389-2318.

Brazoria County

How to Apply: Visit the Brazoria County Government website at https://www.brazoriacountytx.gov/ or call one of the four clinics to make an appointment: Angleton (979) 864-1484

Alvin (281) 585-3024

Lake Jackson (979) 265-4446

Pearland (281) 485-5344

UTMB is also in the process of vaccinating at its Angleton Danbury campus. To sign up for the waitlist, visit their website at https://www.utmb.edu/covid-19/vaccine.

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People aged 50 and over will be included in priority group 1C, which will expand eligibility to around 12 million to 14 million people. More than 93% of Texans who have died from the virus are over 49 years old.

“We have seen a remarkable decrease in the number of hospitalizations and deaths since people 65 years and older began to be fully vaccinated in January,” said Imelda Garcia, chair of the state expert panel on Wednesday. on the allocation of vaccines. “Moving to the ages of 50 to 64 will maintain the state’s priorities of protecting those most at risk of serious consequences and preserving the state’s health care system.”

There are an estimated 5 million Texans between the ages of 50 and 64, a group that has accounted for more than 20 percent of deaths in the state. More than a million Texans between these ages have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, health officials said.

Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that essential workers – including police officers, firefighters, grocery store workers, food service workers, and journalists – prioritize the vaccine before people over. 50 years.

This week, Texas received more than one million first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, a record number mainly due to the addition of 240,000 units of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine. But next week, Texas will not receive any doses of this vaccine due to a federal shortage, Garcia said.

She expects the weekly supply to increase again at the end of the month.

Three vaccines have been approved for distribution in the United States. Two of these, made by Pfizer and Moderna, require two injections – given about a month apart – for full immunization. The third is the single injection vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson.

1C’s announcement came on the same day that Texas lifted its COVID restrictions, including the mask order that Governor Greg Abbott implemented last July to slow the spread of the virus. Abbott cited the rapid rise in vaccinations as part of the reason state warrants were removed.

“Most seniors have already received a photo,” the governor tweeted on Wednesday. “Seniors who haven’t received a vaccine and want one will always be a priority. Always voluntary. “

Local officials hailed the announcement as another step towards normalcy.

“I think that’s a good thing,” said Stephen Williams, director of the Houston health department. “With the vaccine, we can certainly see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we cannot let our guard down.”

As 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 entering communities most at risk for the virus, he said. declared.

Officials have launched a series of new initiatives in recent weeks to reach these vulnerable groups, including two mobile vaccination programs for homebound seniors and rural Texans. The state has also partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to open three immunization mega-sites in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, with the goal of immunizing underserved communities.

Black and Hispanic Texans have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, but have also received the vaccine at lower rates than whites.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo praised the move to Phase 1C.

“There is hope on the horizon, and little by little we will continue to cross our population,” Hidalgo said. “Now is the time to continue wearing our masks, to avoid the crowds and to receive the vaccine as soon as it is available to us.”

County officials will continue to push state and federal partners for more vaccines, she said. In Harris County, 1.1 million doses have been administered and more than 351,000 people have been fully immunized, according to data from Hearst Newspapers.

The challenge, Hidalgo said, is not having enough doses to distribute to everyone on the waiting lists.

“We knew it would be good in the summer until we hit most of our population. It will take patience and persistence, and we ask the community to continue to stay with us on this, ”she said.

In Galveston, the county health department is working with the University of Texas medical arm on mass vaccination efforts.

“What I think the DSHS is doing is taking the temperature around the state, and especially for places that have wait lists like us, and find that we are attracting the people we target and decide. it’s time to move on, ”said Dr Philip Keizer, UTMB professor of medicine and Galveston County local health authority. “We have a lot of people on our waiting list between the ages of 50 and 64, and we don’t have a lot of people over 75. We’re over 65, but not many. It is not enough to keep vaccinating people at the same rate. “

Writer Jeremy Wallace contributed reporting.