Cox said during a Jan. 28 online video update that these two hubs will receive the majority of future vaccination shipments to Travis County.
The city of Lakeway’s website has a link to register for an appointment with Austin Public Health; residents can also visit www.thealthaustin.org to register for a vaccination with the UT system.
“I want to make sure that I set the expectation that the hubs are going to get much more of the supply going forward,” Cox said.
According to the Texas Division of Emergency Management, six vaccination suppliers are in the western Travis County area: Austin Regional Clinic in Bee Cave; Baylor, Scott & White Medical Center in Lakeway; H-E-B pharmacies in Lakeway and Bee Cave; Randall's pharmacy in Lakeway; and VIK Complete Care Lakeway.
However, as of Jan. 28, Baylor, Scott & White and VIK Complete Care were the two providers to have doses of the vaccine—Baylor, Scott & White had 30 does and VIK Complete Care had 150, according to the TDEM website. Each provider can be contacted individually to register for an appointment, subject to availability of the vaccine.
“Unfortunately, there is not one-stop-shopping and -scheduling,” Cox said. “It’s all by each provider. If I were you, I’d look for the hubs.”
Hubs and local providers are administering doses per guidelines provided by the DSHS, which state that health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities have top priority, or Phase 1A status, for receiving a vaccination. Next in line, in Phase 1B, are those age 65 and up and those age 16 and up who have a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
To currently qualify to receive a vaccine, a resident who registers for the medicine must fall into one of these categories.
The vaccines currently are manufactured by two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, and both require individuals receive two doses of the medicine, according to the TDEM website.
The good news for Lakeway is that progress is being made with those in Phase 1A, Cox said.
“All those long-term facilities in Lakeway have been able to vaccinate both the staff and the residents, who have wanted it, of course,” she said. “All their first vaccinations have been done and some have started on their second dose.”
