Texas will become the largest state to extend COVID-19 vaccine suitability to all adults, more than a month before President Joe Biden set a goal of making the shots available to anyone who wants one by May 1.
The announcement by state health officials Tuesday adds Texas to the burgeoning list of states making the vaccine available to all adults. The drastic expansion for the state’s nearly 30 million residents begins Monday.
“We are approaching 10 million doses being delivered in Texas, and we want to maintain the momentum as the vaccine supply increases,” said Imelda Garcia, chair of the state’s Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel.
Would you like to get on a vaccine waiting list?
The county’s health departments have established waiting lists for those who want to be vaccinated and are eligible for Stage 1A, 1B, 1C and daycare and education personnel.
You can register to receive the vaccination in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties. Links are below:
Waiting list links: Collin – Search waiting list | Dallas | Denton | Tarrant
You don’t have to be a county resident to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in that county – registration is open to anyone in Texas. For those without Internet access, Tarrant County also takes phone registrations at 817-248-6299. In Dallas County, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 1-855-IMMUNE9 (1-855-466-8639). In Denton County, call 940-349-2585.
For the past two weeks, Texas has been the largest state in the country with no coronavirus restrictions after Republican government Greg Abbott revoked a mask mandate that divided businesses and lifted restaurant and store occupancy limits. Hospital admissions in Texas have fallen to their lowest level since October, but local health officials say they are closely watching the numbers again after spring break last week.
Alaska was the first state to make the vaccine accessible to all adults, and others are now rushing to do the same, including Tennessee and Missouri.
Texas has one of the slowest vaccination rates in the country. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about 10% of the state population had been fully vaccinated since Tuesday, and about 22% had received at least one dose.
State officials blamed the numbers for the February blackouts caused by a deadly winter storm, claiming that federal officials used outdated Census data to determine the shipment of doses across Texas.
Earlier this month, Biden used his first prime-time address to promise that all adults in the US would be eligible for the vaccine from May 1.
The vaccine is currently only being administered to those who are in stages 1A, 1B and 1C, as outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those in Phase 1A are primary health workers or residents of long-term care facilities. Stage 1B includes those over the age of 65, or those over the age of 16 with a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for serious illness.
On March 3, the availability of vaccines was expanded to school and daycare workers. On March 15, vaccine eligibility was extended to phase 1C, which includes everyone over 50 years old.
President Biden has said the vaccine should be available to all Americans by May 1.
Once vaccinated, people are expected to achieve some level of protection within a few weeks of the first injection, but full protection cannot occur until a few weeks after the second injection. Even when fully vaccinated, it is still possible to get infected by the virus as the vaccine does not provide 100% protection.