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WACO, Texas (KWTX) – With closures of Bell County vaccination centers Thursday and Friday and the potential for additional closures next week, Bell County health officials determined the county was more likely to expire on Monday that it does not have the capacity to distribute in its vaccination centers.
The health district said about 2,334 doses were likely to expire at midnight on Tuesday, February 16.
The county is actively working on several action plans to ensure that none of the thawed vaccines are wasted.
These action plans include using the existing immunization waiting list, communicating with a local health care provider, and engaging Bell County’s three largest school districts.
“Our first course of action was to determine the maximum number of new appointments we could add to our first dose sites on Saturday,” Bell County Judge David Blackburn said.
“We were able to quickly fill these niches by directly contacting those on our waiting list.”
At the same time, the Bell County Public Health District said it contacted Cedar Crest Hospital in Belton to determine whether the hospital had vaccinated all of its staff and patients.
The hospital said it did not and would be willing to set up an emergency vaccination site to vaccinate its staff and patients.
“For the remaining doses, we focused on local groups that would be able to both mobilize quickly, adapt to the numbers needed on short notice and have internal medical staff able to administer the doses. Said Justice Blackburn.
“To that end, we’ve worked with the three largest school districts in Bell County to organize vaccine drives for their teachers and staff.”
Several area school districts, Killeen ISD, Belton ISD and Temple ISD have each agreed to receive and administer 325 doses and will host vaccination sites on Saturday, February 13.
“We would like to warmly thank Cedar Crest Hospital, Killeen ISD, Belton ISD and Temple ISD for stepping up this weather event and helping the district use vaccines that would otherwise have been wasted,” The Bell County Public Health District said.
The Belton School District is holding a vaccination clinic for district employees on Saturday to keep Bell County’s COVID-19 doses safe from the risk of expiration.
The clinic will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Pittenger Fine Arts Center located at 400 North Wall Belton, Texas 76513.
Belton ISD Health Services staff will administer COVID-19 vaccines to district employees today at the Pittenger Fine Arts Center.
The school district, “quickly mobilized nurses and volunteer staff to set up a vaccination site that would allow employees to access the vaccine.”
Killeen ISD will administer the vaccinations at the transport center.
The clinic starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 13.
KISD vaccinations are intended for transport workers.
“We warmly thank the Bell County Public Health District for the opportunity to use vaccines at the risk of not being administered,” says Belton ISD.
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