Maverick County Inoculates First 500 COVID-19 Vaccines, 30-40% Decline Vaccine
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
Maverick County’s first allocation of 500 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) have been inoculated to local front-line healthcare professionals and workers, front-line workers such as firefighters and paramedics, and residents of long-term care facilities under DSHS’ Phase 1-A distribution.
Maverick County’s first 500 COVID-19 vaccines were distributed as following: 300 to Maverick County Hospital District, 100 to United Medical Centers, and 100 to H.E.B. Pharmacy.
Maverick County Hospital District received its 300 COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, December 23, 2020 and immediately began inoculating its healthcare professionals and workers with Cardiologist Dr. Lon Walder being the first person to be inoculated with the Moderna vaccine and General Surgeon Dr. Alfonso Aguirre-Trevino being the second person to get inoculated.
United Medical Centers received their 100 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and promptly inoculated its healthcare professionals and workers with Chief Medical Director Gaston Zylberg being the first to be inoculated. United Medical Centers allocation was insufficient so it worked with H.E.B. Pharmacy to receive additional vaccines from its 100 allocation.
Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes stated at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 that United Medical Centers and H.E.B. Pharmacy had extinguished their allocation of 100 COVID-19 vaccines each while Maverick County Hospital District had few left to be administered.
Mayor Sifuentes noted that approximately 30 to 40 percent of local healthcare professionals and workers who have been offered the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have declined to take it. The high percentage of healthcare workers refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine surprised local public health officials, particularly since there is a high demand for the vaccine among local citizens with chronic medical conditions and educators.
Mayor Sifuentes stated that Maverick County will more than likely receive its second allocation of COVID-19 vaccines from DSHS on January 25, 2021 for distribution under Phase 1-B and Phase 1-C eligible citizens.
Phase 1-B vaccine recipients include people who are 65 years of age or 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, including but not limited to cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), heart conditions such as heart failure, ordinary artery disease or cardiomyopathies, solid organ transplantation, obesity and severe obesity (body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher), pregnancy, sickle cell anemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Mayor Sifuentes added that if any COVID-19 vaccines are left from the first 500 allocated, Maverick County citizens can register online to receive them.
However, the problem is that the City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operation Center (EOC) does not yet have an online portal for citizens to register to take the COVID-19 vaccine as it is currently being developed by the Information Technology department of the EOC, causing anxiety among local citizens desiring to register to take the vaccine.
Maverick County EOC Co-Director Leopoldo “Polo” Vielma stated to the Eagle Pass Business Journal that “there is no website to register. The initial first phase [is] completed. We’re still do[ing] medical personnel [and] first responders and alike with the doses we have. We have additional meetings with the state and DSHS as this continues to ramp up.”
Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo replied to the Eagle Pass Business Journal question on what is the website address or email address for Maverick County citizens to register to taking the COVID-19 vaccine: “We are setting up the portal like we did for the COVID tests. We should have it up and running very soon. I will let you know.”
Mayor Sifuentes replied to the same question posed to Vielma and Saucedo that “IT [is] working on it,” referring to the Information Technology department.
Although there is not yet a website portal available at the Maverick County EOC for local citizens to register for the COVID-19 vaccine like in many other cities and counties throughout Texas, EOC is working on developing a website portal and hopefully will have it ready before the second distribution of COVID-19 vaccines on January 25, 2021.
