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AUSTIN, Texas – Texans aged 50 and over will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine starting March 15, state health officials said on Wednesday.
“The extension to the age of 50 to 64 will maintain the state’s priorities of protecting those most at risk of serious consequences and preserving the state’s healthcare system,” said Imelda Garcia , Associate Commissioner of Laboratory Services and Infectious Diseases and Chairman of the State Department of Health Services. of the Expert Group on Vaccine Allocation.
The decision to expand eligibility to a new category of Texans means vaccine availability is increasing statewide. However, appointments can continue to be difficult to find as the number of eligible beneficiaries exceeds the vaccine supply. Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, between 10 million and 13 million people – more than a third of Texas’ population – were already eligible, according to state health officials.
Previously, doses of the vaccine were limited to frontline healthcare workers, residents and long-term care staff, people 65 years of age and older or at least 16 years of age with a qualifying condition. Teachers and educators also became eligible last week, after President Joe Biden’s administration ordered states to prioritize school employees.
To date, nearly 7 million doses of the vaccine have been administered across Texas and more than 4.5 million people have received at least one dose, according to state data. In total, about 8.5% of the population of Texas has been fully immunized.
Texas is still a long way from collective immunity – the level at which a sufficient proportion of the population is immune to Covid-19 to stop its spread. Experts estimate that between 70% and 80% of Texans will need to be vaccinated to cross this threshold. This represents almost 100% of adults in the state.
The announcement of expanded vaccine eligibility comes on the same day the mask’s statewide mandate ends. The mandate was first implemented by Governor Greg Abbott last July. Service workers gathered outside the Texas Capitol on Monday to protest the decision to lift safety restrictions and demand that they have access to the vaccine.
Abbott alluded to the vaccine announcement at a press conference last week, when he announced he was rescinding the mask’s mandate and allowing all businesses – including restaurants, bars, retail stores and sports stadiums – to operate at 100% capacity. Abbott cited a number of key parameters of Covid-19, including a drop in new hospitalizations and statewide positivity rate, as evidence that Texas is “in a much better position now.”
In the nearly three months since Texas received its first shipments of the Covid-19 vaccine, the supply has steadily increased. There are now three vaccines approved in the United States – Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, which both require two doses, and Johnson & Johnson, which require one dose.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and state emergency management officials have also started managing mass vaccination sites for underserved communities in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. The venues are NRG Stadium in Houston, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and Fair Park in Dallas.
Concerns remain about equitable access to the vaccine. State Senator Borris Miles, D-Houston, expressed frustration at the low immunization rates among communities of color on Wednesday on which the pandemic has disproportionately taken its toll.
“I think you broke my heart and broke your promise,” Miles to Garcia, president of EVAP, told a meeting of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
The growing number of Texans vaccinated has meant, for some, a return to some semblance of normalcy. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that fully vaccinated people can travel safely with other vaccinated people and with small groups of unvaccinated people. But the CDC has warned that Covid-19 still poses a serious public health risk and urged everyone – including those who have been vaccinated – to continue to wear masks and keep physical distance in public.
Public health officials believe the vaccine will be available to the general public later this spring. Earlier this month, Biden said the United States will have an adequate supply of COVID-19 vaccine for every adult by the end of May.
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