That image was taken from this link.
https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=91ac7fb5e5fd47e7ada4acfe4a05920a
These providers received the vaccine, but their presence on the map doesn’t mean they are providing it to the public.
Last week was chaotic. Late Sunday night I received word that HEB pharmacies would administer vaccine to those in the 1b group(65 and older, those 16 and older with certain underlying conditions) if they had vaccine which would be wasted after immunizing people in 1a (medical personnel and residents of long term care facilities). People scrambled to call different HEBs and some were able to get it. We were able to get most of our office personnel vaccinated.
Then Dr. Hellerstedt, the commissioner of Texas Department of Health Services announced the following:
All providers that have received COVID-19 vaccine must immediately vaccinate healthcare workers, Texans over the age of 65, and people with medical conditions that put them at a greater risk of severe disease or death from COVID-19. No vaccine should be kept in reserve.”
– DSHS Commissioner John Hellerstedt, M.D.
This was based incorrectly on data from the state’s ImmTrac2, vaccine tracking program, which indicated that more vaccine was available and that provider’s weren’t distributing it. The reason I say this was incorrect is that one hospital administrator told me that he was contacted by the state and ask why he hadn’t administered any of the 700 vaccine doses that he had been sent to his hospital. He replied that they had already administered 300 and had entered them into ImmTrac 2 as required within 24 hours. So the door was opened to more vaccine recipients than there was vaccine available. What ensued was a free for all as people scrambled to find vaccine. We send out and email to all patients and posted it on this blog with links to possible providers. Quite a few patients were able to schedule appointments for vaccine with University Health and Christus Santa Rosa. Unfortunately University Health was overwhelmed and ran out of their 17,000 slots in 4 1/2 hours. CVS is beginning to vaccinate long term care facilities, but I am told that they have only received enough vaccine for employees, not residents.
In short, the roll out of the vaccine has been bumpy, to say the least. It looks like the largest providers will continue to receive the lion’s share of vaccine when it becomes available.
I addition to that, more people reported being exposed to people who tested positive for Covid 19 over the Christmas holiday. We tested quite a few patients (16 one day which was not the clinic record). Several were positive and those who were candidates for the monoclonal antibody, Bamlanivimab, received it at different emergency rooms.
I expect this week to be more of the same as we deal with the Christmas surge.
In the meantime, I would keep an eye on the provider map. We will post information when available, but often times, by the time you read it, the vaccine slots are taken.
We still didn’t know if or when the state will supply us with vaccine.
