Nearly 49% of Collin County residents age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of May 19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. In Denton County, that number sits at nearly 44%.
The DSHS COVID-19 vaccination dashboard shows a combined estimate of more than 908,000 people in the two counties that have received at least one dose from vaccination sites and clinics, while close to 749,000 are reported as being fully vaccinated. The DSHS estimates show there are close to 1.5 million residents age 16 and older in Collin and Denton counties, although vaccine appointments are not limited to county residents.
Nearly 21 million doses have been administered across Texas since manufacturers began shipping vials to the state in December, according to the DSHS dashboard. Since March 29, all Texas adults have been eligible to receive a vaccine for COVID-19. On May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to those ages 12-15. COVID-19 vaccinations had previously been available only to those age 16 and older.
In Plano, the pace of new confirmed coronavirus cases has slowed, according to the city's dashboard.
The dashboard shows the seven-day average of daily confirmed cases in the city was nearly eight May 18. That was a nearly 33% decrease from the seven-day average ending May 11 and a significant drop from the city's peak of roughly 170 average new daily cases Jan. 11.
In the week from May 12-18, the dashboard showed there were 54 new cases of COVID-19 in the city from both Denton and Collin counties. During the week prior, there were 80. There have been 17,411 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Plano since officials began data collection in March 2020. In Collin County, there have been 74,856 confirmed cases and 832 deaths, according to this DSHS dashboard. In Denton County, 55,522 were confirmed to have had the virus as of May 19, and 759 were confirmed dead.
As of May 18, less than 3% of the hospital beds in Trauma Service Area E, which consists of 19 counties in North Texas including Collin and Denton counties, were occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to the DSHS dashboard. This is a decline from the previous week and part of a trend since a peak in early January. In Plano ISD, 2,030 students and 838 employees have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have since recovered, according to PISD's dashboard, which began reporting data Aug. 12 and was last updated May 20. As of May 19, four student cases and no employee cases were still active.
Collin County Health Care Services allows people to register for a vaccine appointment here. Denton County Public Health has an interest form on its webpage and and allows individuals to schedule vaccine appointments at Denton County Public Health clinics.
