Houston is temporarily closing vaccine waitlist and will not offer new appointments this week

Instead, it will direct about 5,300 of the doses to the wait list, which is managed by the Harris County Area Agency on Aging. Another 2,400 will go to providers in vulnerable communities, and 1,300 are being booked for appointments already booked, the ministry said.

“We know it’s important to immunize the most vulnerable, and they should be among the first to get immunized, especially when supplies are tight,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “The Houston Department of Health’s distribution plan for next week focuses on people at higher risk of illness and death and people living in vulnerable communities.”

Doses intended for vulnerable communities will go to Walgreens’ sites on Wallisville Road and Airline Drive, with Hope Clinic and Ibn Sina offering the injections to their existing clients, according to the health department.

City officials also said they were working to schedule second doses for those who had already received their first vaccine. Next week, he plans to schedule injections for people who received their first dose on December 31, January 4, or January 5 at the George R. Brown Convention Center; other Department of Health clinics between January 3 and January 8; and Minute Maid Park on January 9.

More information on this schedule is available on the city’s website.

Many residents are worried about these dates as their 28-day windows are approaching and they don’t hear from the city. Health officials are asking residents not to inquire about these appointments unless they are within 48 hours of the 28-day window and have heard nothing.

The city cited a new guideline from the US Centers for Disease Control that the second dose should be given as close to 28 days after the first stroke as possible, but it can be given up to 42 days later.

Still, officials said people should be able to receive their second doses on time.

“We anticipate that appointments for the second dose will be offered within the 28 day time frame,” said Scott Packard, director of communications for the Department of Health.

On Friday morning, the city gave 34,503 Moderna shots. About 10,000 of them were handed out at a mega Minute Maid Park site that the city launched two Saturdays and has since gone out of business.

It now offers shots at the Bayou City Event Center, Delmar Stadium, the Convention Center and its Northside, La Nueva Casa de Amigos, Sharpstown and Sunnyside health centers, as well as the JW Peavy Senior Center and Acres Homes. , Hiram Clarke, and Magnolia one-stop shops.

Appointments are required for all vaccinations and no new time slots are currently available.

Residents can sign up to receive notifications of new appointments by subscribing to the HoustonRecovers option on AlertHouston. The city said it will contact and screen people who have left a message to be put on the Regional Agency on Aging’s waiting list in the coming days. He stressed that these people did not need to call back.

Harris County’s separate waiting list for the vaccine is available on its website. The site encountered technical issues when it launched on Tuesday, but more than 165,000 people Are you already registered.

Anyone can be put on this waiting list, although vaccines are currently limited to certain frontline workers, people 65 years of age and over, and those with certain health conditions.

These include cancer; chronic kidney disease; COPD; heard of conditions like heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies; solid organ transplantation; obesity; pregnancy; sickle cell anemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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