Severe weather in Texas last week delayed the shipment of 1.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and caused over 1,000 doses to spoil statewide, according to the Texas Department of State and Health Services.
DSHS Associate Commissioner Imelda Garcia shared updates to the state’s vaccine rollout efforts during a weekly media call Tuesday afternoon.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paused shipments nationwide last week due to inclement weather. The bulk of vaccines from last week’s allocations and all of this week’s allocations were paused.
“So, essentially we lost about seven days,” Garcia said, referring to vaccine administrations.
Some providers received their allocations last week and through the weekend, but Garcia said they expect all 1.4 million to be delivered by the end of Tuesday.
“This week, providers will have last week’s allocations and this week’s allocations that they’ll need to push through in the coming days,” she said.
State officials anticipate providers will be able to make up the loss of time. “I think probably in a week and a half, we should be able to be caught up across the state,” Garcia said.
Next week’s allocations have yet to be announced, but Garcia said they plan to push out week 12 allocations as originally scheduled. Providers will have the option to request a delay in future shipments to allow them time to catch up in administering doses delivered up through Tuesday.
“Some of them have declined or told us they don’t want to receive any additional vaccines the next coming week. So, we will be honoring their requests,” Garcia said.
All four hubs in the Rio Grande Valley — Cameron County Public Health, Hidalgo County Health and Human Services, DHR Health and UTRGV — confirmed they will not be requesting a delay in shipments.
Power outages affected thousands across the state, including buildings storing the vaccine. Garcia said DSHS received reports that over 1,000 doses were spoiled, but the number is expected to grow.
“Right now, we expect as providers get back into their offices we may get some reports of additional lost vaccines,” Garcia said, adding, “That number represents an extraordinarily small amount of the amount that’s actually in the state.”
As of Tuesday, Texas has distributed 4.5 million doses. Of those, 3.1 million people received at least one dose and 1.4 million are fully vaccinated. One of every seven people who are 65 or older are fully vaccinated, and nearly one in every six people 80 or older are also fully vaccinated.
The state has yet to define the next group of people eligible to receive the vaccine.
Garcia said they anticipate the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a third COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19, by the end of the week.
She said, “ultimately we will see what populations are recommended from the Food and Drug Administration as well as the CDC advisory committee on immunization practices, and as those recommendations come out, those will help guide how we may potentially distribute the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”
