Harris County makes ‘leftover’ vaccine doses available to school district employees

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Harris County teachers and school staff on the waiting list for COVID-19 vaccines are now called by Harris County Public Health if there are “remaining” doses at the end of the day.

The program was developed by Harris County Public Health as a way to ensure that no vaccine dose is wasted while immunizing most frontline workers.

“The idea we launched last week is that we are going to assign our ‘no show’ appointments to school staff on our level 1A and 1B waiting lists,” said Dr Maria Rivera of Harris County Public Health.

SEE ALSO: White House reveals plans for major vaccination sites in Houston and 2 other cities in Texas

Rivera pointed out that Harris County mass vaccination sites move weekly and are typically held in high school stadiums or other school facilities with large parking lots. When people fill out the Harris County Health Department waitlist, it will already ask you if you are employed by a school district and which one. This makes it easy for the county computer system to compile a list of eligible school district employees in the region where the mega-sites are located.

“They have to be Level 1A or 1B, and they have to be able to get to our sites fairly quickly,” Rivera said. She adds that another benefit is that educators usually live nearby and can quickly check in on their computers when notified of additional doses that might expire.

Harris County says it works with the county’s 21 school districts as well as charter schools and private schools in each region. As the locations of the mega-vaccines change week to week, the county changes the districts it contacts each week, focusing on districts where the county uses school property and where the employees may live nearby.

SEE ALSO: Action 13: Link your questions about the COVID-19 vaccine to the answers

If you are an educator and want to make sure you are included on the “no show” vaccine dose call list, make sure you are on the Harris County Vaccine Waiting List. Specify the school district you work for from the drop-down menu. As a reminder, the process will always be weighted and randomized, so only employees who qualify according to state guidelines will be contacted.

“It’s a way to make sure it doesn’t go to waste and still go to eligible people,” Rivera said.

The video shown above is taken from a previous report.

Follow Miya Shay on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.