Brazos County Commissioners Receive Information on COVID-19 Activity, Increasing Number of Cases in Children

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Brazos County Commissioners received an update on COVID-19 activity Tuesday morning by the Brazos County Health District. Active cases of COVID-19 have exceeded 1,600 in Brazos County. The last time it was so high was in January.

The health district reported 158 new cases and another death on Tuesday. The patient was about 40 years old.

Brazos County health officials have concerns about the vaccination rate in our community, as well as the growth of COVID cases in children who are not eligible for the vaccine.

“Children aged 5 to 11 still cannot be vaccinated, there is no vaccine for this age group, so the increase in cases under 18 is alarming for us in the health district and how to mitigate “We recommend the use of masks, social distancing and vaccination,” said Santos Navarrette, health director of Brazos County Health District.

Navarrette tells us they expect reinforcement shots to be available this fall. There are no plans to open a new hub right now.

“We are looking to establish driving clinics throughout Brazos County and Brazos Valley in the future when these vaccines become available,” he said.

Doctors and health leaders are also concerned about hesitation.

About 50 percent of eligible Brazos County residents are vaccinated. For heard immunity, this number should be 80%.

“Advanced vaccine infections only occurred in 2.5 percent of people vaccinated,” said Dr. Yao Akpalu, chief epidemiologist at Brazos County Health District.

“We need to be able to do more than just wash our hands and put on our masks and distance ourselves socially … We need to keep the immune system up,” said Brazos County Judge Duane Peters. He shared his story about dealing with COVID but recovering in no time.

“If you have the disease, you need to stay home. I mean if you start showing symptoms, you’ll probably have to try and find out if you have them and stay away from people. You have to stay home, ”said Peters.

In Commissioners Court, Agent Isaac Butler also spoke of having a united front by local governments and agencies to vaccinate more people.

“When doctors and even the health district stand up and explain the situation, we can see that we are all on one page, and I think there would be more people taking the vaccine,” Butler said.

“We’re still seeing a lot of virus transmission in Texas and the United States, and again, vaccination rates are about 50 percent. We need to increase those vaccination rates,” Navarrette said.

Here in Brazos County, confirmed cases range from 10 days to 97 years.

The youngest death in the county was someone 21 years old.

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