City of San Antonio issued the following announcement on Dec. 31.
The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District continues to work with state and local partners to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to critical populations, within the phases designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services. As of yesterday, the Bexar County area has received approximately 50,000 doses of the vaccine, and more than 31,000 people in the County have been vaccinated. The remaining 40,000 doses of the initial 90,000-dose allocation for Bexar County is expected to arrive within the next week.
The region continues to focus on vaccinating Phase 1A populations, which includes healthcare workers, EMS providers, home health workers, long-term care staff and residents of long-term care facilities. There are an estimated 140,000 people in Phase 1A.
“We are working to balance the need to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible, while making sure distribution is focused on priority, high risk and traditionally underserved populations. The more people we vaccinate, the more vaccines we’ll receive,” said Dr. Colleen Bridger, Assistant City Manager. “We will continue to keep the community updated as we learn more about the state and federal government’s distribution plan for vaccines.”
Subsequent tiers will include people 65 and older, frontline essential workers, and those 16 and older with at least one underlying medical condition that places them at a higher risk of severe complications from COVID-19. Metro Health is working with its partners at the area hospitals, private pharmacies and others who are receiving direct shipments of the vaccine through Operation Warp Speed to coordinate widespread distribution of the vaccine as it becomes available.
Metro Health has been following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations. The COVID-19 vaccination plan for Bexar County can be found on the COVID-19 Portal.
Immunization with a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is a critical component of the strategy to reduce COVID-19-related illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths and to help restore community and societal functioning. The goal is to have enough COVID-19 vaccine for all people who wish to be vaccinated. However, early in the COVID-19 Vaccination Program, there will be a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccine. Supply will increase into 2021.
Original source can be found here.
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