Methodist Dallas Medical Center was one of the first four hospitals in Texas to export Pfizer’s Govt-19 vaccine Monday, state health officials said.
According to the Texas State Department of Health Services, Wellness 360 in San Antonio, UT Health Austin Dell School and MD in Houston. The Anderson Cancer Center will be shipped Monday.
State health officials said 19,500 doses would be distributed at four sites on Monday, and 75,075 doses would go to 19 additional sites on Tuesday.
Parkland Memorial Hospital and UT Southwest in Dallas and Texas Health Resources in Fort Worth are among the 19 hospitals to be exported Tuesday.
Dr. Joseph Chang, Chief Medical Officer, Parkland Health and Hospital Systems, speaks with Laura Harris of NBC5 before receiving the Govt-19 vaccine at the hospital.
Dallas County Director of Health and Human Services Dr. Philip Huang said the initial amount will go to almost the entire healthcare staff.
“Other priority groups, including long-term care facilities, have two weeks to cover all of this,” he said.
Palm Stoyanoff, the hospital’s president and CEO, told NBC5’s media partner that the Methodist Dallas Medical Center will launch immunizations for health workers and staff who interact with COVID-19 patients when the ship arrives. Dallas Morning News.
Huang said the arrival of the vaccine was “light at the end of the subway”, but he urged people to continue wearing masks and avoiding meetings as COVID-19 cases are on the rise across northern Texas.
“Now we need to strengthen that we can’t rest, it will take several months to get that coverage with the vaccine that is going to protect everyone,” Huang said.
The deadline for when the vaccine will be widely available to the general public is unclear Sunday, and will be between late spring and autumn 2021, Huang said.
In Torrent County, government and health officials are preparing for their first levels and urging people to keep social distance.
“If you’ve been outside, please do not relax, this is not the time to cut down on wearing masks or doing the things we talked about before,” Torrent County Judge Glenn Wheatley said.
The remaining 16 Texas hospitals scheduled to receive Pfizer’s Govt-19 on Tuesday are:
- Center for Health Sciences at the Texas University of Technology in Amarillo
- Corpus Christi Christus Spoon Health System Beach
- Physicians Hospital in the Renaissance in Edinburgh
- UT Health RGV in Edinburgh
- University of El Paso Medical Center
- University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital in Calveston
- Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston
- LPJ Hospital in Houston
- CHI St. Lucas Health in Houston
- Memorial Herman Texas Medical Center in Houston
- Houston Methodist Hospital
- Ben Dub General Hospital in Houston
- Agreement Medical Center in Lubbock
- Shannon Pharmacy in San Angelo
- Baylor Scott & White Medical Center at Temple
- UT Health Science Center at Tyler