Gov. Abbott Says Texas To Distribute More Than 1M COVID-19 Vaccines By End Of December: 'We Need To Focus On Opening Up Businesses'
"No more shutdowns, we need to focus on opening up businesses," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
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"No more shutdowns, we need to focus on opening up businesses," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
Thursday's vaccination of frontline staff was considered a "soft launch" ahead of the full COVID-19 employee vaccination clinic, which is set to launch at 5 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 18.
The first Pfizer vaccine shipments arrived this week at North Texas hospitals. The state expects to receive even more in the coming weeks.
Some jail inmates in Texas are moving bodies into refrigerated trucks because morgues are so overwhelmed by the number of people dying from COVID-19, but their rank on the list to get vaccinated skews toward the bottom.
"I think I was perhaps the first person to receive the vaccine or placebo in North Texas," participant Adam Pick said.
The system's initial state allocation will be used for the vaccination of front-line caregivers and other healthcare workers in emergency departments and COVID-19 units beginning Tuesday.
The approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. has many seeing the end of pain, suffering and needless deaths. But one organization is warning a lot of other people see the vaccine as an opportunity to steal from consumers.
"It's an emotional and exciting day. We've been dealing with this since March taking care of the sickest patients here," said Dr. Zachary Dreyfuss, an ICU physician.
"It's certainly a concern that as people think there's a vaccine available, they may not wear the protective equipment such as a mask," said Melissa Winans, Chief Nursing Officer for Texas Health Denton Presbyterian Hospital.
The tool that could finally beat back COVID-19 is here, but according to recent polls, most people are fine with letting others try it out first.
Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are on the ground at Methodist Dallas Medical Center this morning. The hospital is among the first in the U.S. to receive the medicine.
Methodist Dallas Medical Center will be among the first four sites in Texas to get the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, December 14.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, this week Dallas County medical centers will receive around 27,000 doses of the vaccine, Tarrant County around 18,000 doses and Collin County just under 4,000 doses.
The first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States headed Sunday from Michigan to distribution centers across the country.
As anticipation about the vaccine builds, many are wondering when they'll be able to receive it right from their local pharmacy.
The U.S. Food and and Drug Administration said Friday it will work quickly to authorize Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use after an advisory panel voted in favor of it.
More than 5,000 Walmart and Sam's Club pharmacies are preparing to administer COVID-19 vaccines, once it's deemed safe in the U.S.
With Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine frozen, packed and now approved for emergency use, the planning at North Texas hospitals to receive it has been both a marathon and a sprint.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken an especially harsh toll on frontline healthcare workers. The promise of vaccines considered a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
Parkland, UT Southwestern, Methodist Dallas and Texas Health Harris are set to get the largest deliveries with 5,850 doses each.
The reversal comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week issued nonbiding guidance that called for putting nursing home residents first along with frontline medical staff.
George W. Bush has joined former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and agreed to take a coronavirus vaccine on camera to raise confidence in its safety.
The race to a COVID-19 vaccine is both part solution and potential dilemma for those opposed to immunizations because according to the law, employers can require it.
"We look at the data ourselves and we number crunch the data ourselves, so we'll drawl own conclusions from the data." FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told CBS 11.
The vaccines should begin arriving in Texas the week of December 14.
