Texas becomes first state to distribute 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

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A month after the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the state, Texas became the first in the country to administer 1 million doses, Governor Greg Abbott said Thursday. The milestone comes as intensive care beds shrink statewide and experts predict daily coronavirus cases and hospitalizations will worsen following an influx of holiday gatherings.

“This is the biggest vaccination effort we’ve ever undertaken,” Abbott said in a press release. “We still have a long way to go, but the Texans continue to prove that we are up to this challenge.”

Texas has administered more doses than any other state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state has administered nearly half of the more than 2 million doses it has received so far, placing it in the top 20 states for percentage of doses administered.

More than 3 in 100 Texans have been vaccinated so far, according to the CDC. Texas also overtakes other populated states like California, which has administered just under a million shots but has so far been assigned more than 3 million doses, according to the CDC.

Currently, vaccines are administered to front-line health care workers, residents of assisted living and nursing homes, and people over 65 years of age or chronically ill.

Abbott initially said 1.4 million healthcare workers and vulnerable residents would be vaccinated by the end of last year, but the first few weeks of the deployment were marked by communication and technical issues that confused patients and providers.

While more than 8 million Texas qualify to receive the vaccine, only about 2 million doses had been shipped as of Jan.8. The state also opened up vaccine eligibility at the second tier, which included elderly and chronically ill Texans, before hundreds of thousands of frontline healthcare workers had received their first dose. This has left clinicians ill-prepared to handle the influx of new patients.

Also Thursday, several mayors called on President-elect Joe Biden to send doses directly to cities for distribution. The mayors of Austin, Houston and San Antonio were among those who endorsed the demand, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“While it is essential to work with public health agencies, health care providers, state and local pharmacies and clinics, there is a need to be nimble and address the gaps unique to each individual. local area, ”the mayors wrote, according to the Chronicle. . “Very few cities receive direct allocations and as a result the awareness-raising efforts needed to lay the groundwork for your immunization goals are not being met.”