CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — During what was a lengthy Commissioner’s Court meeting, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales offered an update Wednesday regarding efforts to administer the Pfizer COVID vaccine.
According to Canales, everything is moving along at Christus Spohn, where they have been giving some 70 vaccines an hour as they move through their 4,875 doses. She also noted that Corpus Christi Medical Center is still waiting to get their 975 doses – the minimum order allowed – and expects them to arrive this week.
In accordance with the plan for Phase 1 in Texas, hospital workers, home healthcare workers, EMS technicians and residents of long-term care facilities are still the priority. That’s Tier 1.
After that, the vaccine will become available to others – including those who provide outpatient care or who work at emergency medical care facilities, pharmacy staff and others who are involved in vaccination or testing for the virus, funeral home workers and school nurses.
No specific timeline was given on when that second tier of workers can expect to receive the vaccine.
Canales also said that the county is working to become a vaccine provider, with a permanent vaccination site at the fairgrounds in Robstown, mentioning that, “We have one of the most awesome responsibilities to take care of our surrounding, smaller, rural communities.”
Not only will this be done to ensure that the smaller communities are cared for, but also to take care of county employees.
Canales admits, though, that there are a lot of things that will have to happen between now and then. “The first order of business is to become a provider and in order to do that, I won’t lie, there are about 20 steps that have to happen first, and we’re working on each of them,” she said.
Going further, Canales told County Commissioners that she hopes to have something for them to look at by the first week in January.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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