Houston and the surrounding area will receive an influx of COVID-19 vaccine doses this week

The Greater Houston area will receive an influx of more than 62,000 COVID-19 vaccines this week, driven by an increase in the number of vaccines provided to the state by the federal government and large allocations to Houston-area providers, announced state officials. Friday.

“The increase in the available vaccine is due to two factors: a 30 percent increase in the number of Moderna doses provided to the state by the federal government, and a one-time return of 126,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine supplied to Texas. had to do. reserved for the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, ”health officials said in a press release. “The program overestimated the amount of vaccine needed, so doses are returned to the states.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services said it is allocating doses of the long-term care program to health care providers in counties where allocations are “significantly lower than their proportion of the population, especially in the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.”

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In total, Texas will receive 520,425 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government for the week of Feb. 1. More than 62,000 of those doses will be given to health care providers in the Greater Houston area, including Harris, Fort Bend, Liberty, Montgomery, Chambers and Galveston Counties. The Harris County Public Health Department and the City of Houston Public Health Department will each receive 9,000 vaccinations.

In addition to the advent of the first doses, the state ordered 188,225 doses intended as the second dose for people who were first vaccinated a few weeks ago.

Currently, Texans are only eligible for the vaccine if they are primary care health workers, nursing home residents, are 65 or older, or have a medical condition that puts them at greater risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

“Vaccine remains limited based on manufacturers’ capacity to produce it, so it will take time for Texas to get enough vaccine for all people in the priority populations who want to be vaccinated,” health officials said in a press release. “Currently there is not enough vaccine to provide every supplier with a weekly vaccine.”

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On Friday, suppliers in Texas administered nearly 2.2 million doses of the vaccine. More than 1.75 million people have received at least one dose and more than 410,000 have received both doses.