People 50 And Older Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccine In Texas Starting March 15
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas will expand COVID-19 vaccination to people 50 to 64 years of age on Monday, March 15, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced Wednesday, March 10.
More than 93% of the Texas fatalities directly caused by the coronavirus have been in people 50 and older, with those ages 50 to 64 accounting for 20% of all fatalities, DSHS said in a news release.
"By including this next most vulnerable group, Texas will continue to reduce the number of people who are hospitalized and die from the disease across all races, ethnicities and occupations," DSHS said.
"We've seen a remarkable decrease in the number of hospitalizations and deaths since people 65 and older started becoming fully vaccinated in January," said Imelda Garcia, DSHS associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious disease services and chair of the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. "Expanding to ages 50 to 64 will continue the state's priorities of protecting those at the greatest risk of severe outcomes and preserving the state's health care system."
More information on the new 1C priority group is available here.
More than half of all Texas seniors have gotten at least one dose of vaccine, and 30% are now fully vaccinated.
The number of COVID-19 positive patients in Texas hospitals has fallen by two-thirds from its peak in mid-January.
There are about 5 million Texans between the ages of 50 and 64; more than 1 million of them are already vaccinated.
The state's COVID-19 vaccination program began with Phase 1A in December with health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff.
Later that month, Phase 1B began to vaccinate people 65 and older and others with medical conditions that put them at a greater hospitalization and death from COVID-19.
On March 3, Texas added school and child care workers to the eligible population following a directive from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel will continue to meet and make recommendations about the further allocation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine.
Overall, more than 7 million doses have been administered in Texas.
About 4.7 million people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 2.5 million are fully vaccinated.
As vaccine availability increases, right now health officials are encouraging everyone to get registered to be vaccinated. There are multiple ways to do this online, but if you need help there are registration hubs.
In Dallas County, at Concord Church, Senior Pastor Bryan Carter has worked to create a simple, streamlined process with minimal wait times.
"So many people are trying to gain access, they can't get on the system, so what we're doing today is helping them get registered," he said.
"It's a lot better to talk to somebody face to face - nose to nose - eyeball to eyeball - than it is to try and deal with a computer that doesn't understand a lot of stuff," attendee John Grant said.
In the next few days, more than 10 of these events are planned throughout Dallas County.
Click here for the latest on vaccines from the city of Dallas.