A sterile vial of AstraZeneca Phase III trial COVID vaccine sits in a refrigerator at the Prism Health North Texas location in Oak Cliff, Thursday, December 3, 2020. The clinic administers the vaccine to non-COVID patients participating in the trial study. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News, MBR / Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning NewsThe newly developed COVID-19 vaccine should arrive in Southeast Texas sometime this week, according to state health officials.
Four sites in the state’s largest metropolitan areas —Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio— received 19,500 doses today and 19 other sites in various parts of the state will receive 75,075 doses on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The remaining 86 of 109 distribution sites outlined in the state’s plans —including both Beaumont hospitals— are expected to see doses later in the week.
The department has already tempered expectations for mass distribution, as limitations on doses and the technical challenges of keeping vaccines at subzero temperatures shape the roll out’s range.
"As expected, the initial vaccine supply is limited, and the first week’s allocation is based on information submitted by vaccine providers when they enrolled, including the number of health care workers who can be quickly vaccinated and vaccine storage capacity at each site," representatives of the Texas Department of State Health Services' wrote on the agency’s website. "More vaccine will be available for more providers in the following weeks, including vaccine from Moderna once it is authorized."
This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com
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