For the second time in three weeks, Denton County has been left out of Texas ’COVID-19 vaccine allocation list, with last week’s shipment of more than 25,000 first doses now between weeks when the department Public Health has only received two doses for its Texas Motor Speedway clinics.
The first week without a first-dose assignment from the state health department was the week of March 22, when Denton County Public Health did not receive vaccines after most of all others were assigned. providers of state-registered centers. At the time, DCPH spokeswoman Jennifer Rainey said the department had enough vaccines available to attend her clinics during the week, adding that the department hoped it would be a unique case.
Last week, the typical county allocation (25,740 doses of Pfizer) returned when the county began vaccinating all Texas adults after eligibility extensions. While providers constantly receive second-dose shipments that are not listed on the state’s weekly assignment document, DCPH again went without a first-dose shipment this week.
At Tuesday’s meeting of Denton County Commissioners, DCPH Director Matt Richardson did not address the lack of an assignment, which he did not address the first time either. Arriving before the meeting, Rainey stated only that “DCPH had the vaccine available for use for the first and second dose this week.”
Rainey did not specify whether DCPH expects a state allocation next week or whether it will need a new allocation to host a full list of vaccine clinics. Richardson confirmed at Tuesday’s meeting that the department will send appointments for next week.
“We will be very much invited to new time slots for next week,” Richardson said. “We’re done with our time slots for this week, so we have a full list on TMS [Tuesday] see you on Friday “.
According to DCPH’s online vaccine tracker, the department has invited through item no. 453,002 on its waiting list, with a total of 485,759 people registered. These numbers are updated every Monday morning, meaning about 25,000 more Texas residents had registered on the county list since last week. Richardson said about 2,000 more had registered between Monday and Tuesday’s meeting.
Not everyone who registers to get a county vaccine will remain on the waiting list, as many have received shots from other providers and then withdrawn from the county queue. However, Richardson said the line currently stands at about 32,000 individuals who have not yet received their first dose. – a number that overshadows the department’s standard weekly allocation of 25,740 shots from Pfizer.
Numerous Denton County providers received shots this week, including several Tom Thumb and Walgreens chain pharmacies, according to the Texas State Department of Health Services. The largest assignments were at Carrollton Regional Medical Center (1,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson) and Driven MD PLLC in Frisco (1,000 doses of Modern).
Richardson’s review of the pandemic was again positive as active virus cases continued to decline and other hospitalization metrics and important cases stagnated or improved. However, he addressed the issue of COVID-19 variants.
Richardson said the state’s most prominent variant is one of the first discoveries in the UK, formally known as variant B.1.1.7. It was first discovered in Denton in early February, although she said current vaccines have been shown to be effective against it.
“The interesting thing about this variant is that it’s a little less virulent, so it’s a little less deadly, which is good news,” Richardson said. “The bad news is that it’s a little easier to catch. So one of the things we want to continue is to emphasize the need for vaccination. “