The Montgomery County Public Health District said Feb. 22 that its COVID-19 wait list remains closed for maintenance. The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is transitioning the list to a new system, the health district said, and the service is expected to be available again later this week.
Posted Feb. 22 12:46 p.m.
Montgomery County vaccination hubs and providers are set to receive nearly 12,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses through the week of Feb. 22 as vaccination efforts ramp back up following a week of shipping delays and disruptions caused by winter weather conditions statewide.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, nearly 600,000 vaccine doses have been allocated to providers throughout Texas this week, including more than 80,000 reserved for new, large-scale vaccination sites in Houston, Dallas and Arlington. Newly allocated doses are expected to be distributed during the second half of the week and will follow the delayed shipments of previously allocated doses that were held up by last week's winter conditions.
The DSHS said more than 100,000 first doses and 300,000 second doses allocated last week have yet to reach their destinations. An additional 364,830 second doses are also being ordered to serve those who had received their first dose weeks ago but had their second dose appointments disrupted because of the weather, the department said. In Montgomery County, a second-dose event at the Lone Star Family Health Center's vaccination hub was delayed last week and will now be held Feb. 23.
"People who had second dose appointments delayed by winter weather should rest assured knowing that vaccine will be available, and their appointments will be rescheduled. Even if they receive the second dose outside of the recommended six-week time frame, they will get the full protection of the second dose and will not need an additional booster shot," DSHS said in a statement. Once this week's allocations are sent out, both Montgomery County vaccination hubs at the Lone Star center and CHI St. Luke's Health—The Woodlands Hospital will receive their largest shipments of vaccine doses yet. Lone Star was allocated 2,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine, and St. Luke's was allocated 4,680 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week, according to the DSHS.
More information on the Lone Star hub site can be found at www.lonestarvaccine.com or by calling 936-523-5230. More information on the St. Luke's hub site can be found on the hospital's website or by calling 936-202-2060, according to the DSHS.
Several additional providers are also set to receive shipments of between 100 to 500 doses this week, as well as a 2,500-dose allocation for the Montgomery County Public Health District—its largest yet.
Registration for the county's vaccination waitlist, which resumed Feb. 21, is available through the health district's online form. The MCPHD's COVID-19 call center at 936-523-3916 is also open daily for registration assistance for those age 65 and older without an internet connection.
In addition to allocation information, the state this week also provided a report on COVID-19 vaccine doses wasted by providers due to a variety of reasons. As of Feb. 19, a total of seven Montgomery County providers reported wasting 169 doses, including 157 lost to spoiling, three lost to mechanical failure and nine lost for unspecified reasons. The 169 wasted doses represent 0.2% of all the county's allocated first and second doses as of late last week.
More than 96,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been allocated to Montgomery County providers as of Feb. 22, the start of the state's 11th week of public vaccine distribution. Of those, the DSHS reported more than 73% of the county's 70,330 allocated first doses have been administered, and nearly 92% of the 26,350 allocated second doses have been administered. The fewer than 1,000 vaccine doses administered Feb. 15-21—likely due to cancellations and closures related to the winter weather—represent the county's lowest weekly vaccination total so far. Vaccination efforts reached their peak during the first week of February, when more than 18,100 doses were administered.
