AUSTIN, Texas — While providers are still directed to continue to prioritize older adults, particularly those over the age of 80, all adults in Texas will be eligible to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, March 29.
The announcement was made by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Tuesday, and spokesperson Chris Van Deusen said the decision to open appointments to more Texans stemmed from a few things.
"So, it certainly is what we're hearing from around the state as far as progress being made in vaccinating these priority populations – certainly in some places, it's not everywhere. It's not going to be uniform across the state. But that's part of it," Van Deusen told KVUE Tuesday, adding, "Another part is what we're hearing from the federal government about the vaccine supply and, you know, additional millions of doses across the country. Not, not that all of those will come to Texas, of course. But, you know, we expect to see that vaccine supply ramping up throughout April."
He added that momentum from an influx of vaccines being distributed across the state also played a role.
"We want to make sure the vaccine is available to people, and we want to make sure we're able to use the vaccine that we do get from the federal government," he said. "We don't want it to be, to be sitting because we're overly protective of how that vaccine is being used. So where, in parts of the state where they're in a position to vaccinate – you know, open it up and vaccinate more people – we wanted to be able to do that while other parts can still prioritize those critical populations."
Below is a graph that shows the percentage of people 16 and older in Central Texas counties that have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of March 23:
Local leaders said there are potential pros and cons to Texas opening vaccine eligibility to all adults.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown said it has the possibility to create even more efficiency at the drive-thru clinics that the county has hosted by appointment only in partnership with CommUnityCare for the last few weekends.
"This is going to allow us to have fewer cars and more people," Brown said.
He explained that for their efforts specifically, the main goal at COTA is to vaccinate people that are hardest hit by COVID-19, as well as those that live in the ZIP codes in eastern Travis County, among other things.
"And one thing we've noticed is that we're getting a lot of people coming through Circuit of the Americas that will have one or two family members or maybe caregivers with the person getting the vaccine. But we've been unable to vaccinate them as well because they don't meet [eligibility]," he said. "So, in one way, I think it will actually help our efforts quite a bit because we can, we can vaccinate, you know, the person that we're hoping that might be a stay-at-home person or might be older. We can also get their family and their caregivers at the same time."
However, on the other hand, Brown feels that there could have been more initiative toward getting more essential workers vaccinated first before opening appointments to the general adult population.
"I would still like to be able to target the hardest-hit populations and the hardest-hit workers first. So people who are essential workers, people who are, you know, basically can't work from home, can't work remotely. I'd like to be able to, to target them first before the general population," he said.
Brown added that this coming weekend, COTA will have another vaccine drive-thru event, again by appointment only. However, this weekend's event is only for those who are getting a second dose after receiving their first at a previous drive-thru event. The first weekend of April, the event will return to distributing first doses of the vaccine.
GRAPHS: Coronavirus data March 23
Austin Mayor Steve Adler also spoke to KVUE about the State's decision to expand vaccine eligibility.
"You know, on the one hand, I'm excited it's being open[ed] to everybody. It was kind of inevitable to happen in the process. It means we're progressing forward," Adler said. "But at the same time, I am concerned that there are so many still in our community that are over 65 that haven't gotten the vaccine yet. I was hopeful that when the State extended the number of people that would be eligible, we would focus first on extending to get to essential workers. That we would really focus on getting the vaccine to the people that are most likely to be in a position to generate the greatest amount of spread possible. So, I probably would – I would have supported a policy that would have us going for another couple of weeks really focusing on those essential workers."
Austin Public Health (APH) said while it will open appointments to all Texas adults, it will still prioritize those that are older or at higher risk.
APH said in a statement to KVUE:
"With the expansion of vaccine eligibility announced today, we are looking forward to the additional vaccine supply that the state is expecting. All adults can register for a vaccine through Austin Public Health. We will continue to prioritize appointments based on age and severe risk of disease. APH will be making modifications to our registration platform to include the general population, but allow for prioritization of 1A/1B/1C groups. We encourage the community to search for additional local vaccine providers through: www.vaccinefinder.org."
A spokesperson for APH also told KVUE Tuesday that with the current sites in place, the agency can accommodate up to 37,000 appointments per week. However, with only 12,000 first doses historically arriving weekly, APH is continuing to focus on existing vaccine operations and working with community partners to provide mobile vaccinations.
APH also held a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine pilot over the weekend, which provided 1,500 doses. A spokesperson said if more first dose allocation is received, the agency hopes to be able to expand operations to up to 3,000 doses per day.
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