By Ashley Moss
Staff Writer
Texas continues to receive doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, and is distributing statewide to hospitals, pharmacies, local health departments, freestanding ERs and other clinics.
Front-line healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. This group is considered Phase 1A.
“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,” said DSHS Commissioner John Hellerstedt, M.D.
If you are in Phase 1B, you are also eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, depending on availability and the vaccine provider. Vaccine supply remains limited, but more vaccines will be delivered to providers each week.
Phase 1B recipients include:
People 65 years of age and older
People 16 years of age and older with at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19, such as but not limited to:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies
- Solid organ transplantation
- Obesity and severe obesity (body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher)
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Health officials estimate that Spring 2021 could be the best estimate of when the vaccine will be available for the general public, but that may change, depending on vaccine production and how quickly other vaccines become available.
