By noon Jan. 20, Williamson County had two hubs operating—one in Sun City in Georgetown and one in North Austin—to distribute the 6,000 Moderna vaccines it had received.
The Sun City indoor operation, located at 2 Texas Drive, Georgetown, inoculated 330 people, and the Family Hospital Systems drive-thru operation, located at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex, 10211 W. Parmer Lane, Austin, inoculated 2,200 people, Gravell said.
Officials at the Sun City location estimate an additional 864 vaccines will be distributed at its hub by 8 p.m. Jan. 21.
“We're happy to anything that we can do to make this thing get going and get our residents and our surrounding residents vaccinated,” said Jim Romine, executive director of the Sun City hub.
How it works
Both hubs are open to the public but are appointment-only.
Those looking to register for the Sun City location can do so here or call 833-984-3747, and those looking to join the FHS waitlist for the Kelly Reeves location can do so here. Individuals will be notified when an appointment is available.
There are currently 44,692 people on the waitlist, according to the FHS website.
So far, the county has received only the Moderna vaccine, which requires individuals to wait 15 minutes after receiving the vaccine before leaving the facility to ensure there are no immediate reactions.
Sun City hub officials said those who arrive for the vaccine fully registered are generally out in 20 to 30 minutes.
What now?
On Jan. 20, the county received 6,000 vaccines, which Gravell said will likely be depleted by Jan. 22. However, he said he plans to ask the state for 33,000 more doses when he makes his request Jan. 22.
Gravell said he initially asked state health officials for 30,000 doses; the state offered an allotment of 6,000. Gravel said he is hopeful in the county’s ability to retain more vaccines as long as it proves its efficiency in delivering them to residents. Current state vaccine operations require each county judge to put in weekly requests for vaccine allotments, he added.
“We have to put shots in arms rapidly,” he said. “Right now, winning is putting shots in arms.”
Williamson County as a provider is not the only distributor of vaccines. Other distributors include hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and more. While Williamson County as a provider has only received 6,000 vaccine doses so far, providers within the county have received about 33,875 vaccines in total, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data.
With the total vaccines that have been shipped to all Williamson County providers, 22,180 people have received at least one dose, and 3,463 have been fully vaccinated, data shows.
As of Jan. 19, about 0.6% of the eligible Williams County population age 16 and older was fully vaccinated, and 4.5% of individuals have received the first dose, according to Williamson County and Cities Health District data.
While Williamson County currently has two hubs, it does plan to open more throughout the county in partnership with FHS as more vaccines become available.
Find all Texas COVID-19 vaccine providers here.
It is recommended to call providers in advance to confirm location, hours, availability and eligibility. Not all providers are vaccinating all priority groups.
The vaccine is available at no charge.
