Travis County to receive fourth round of vaccine doses this week

30,000 COVID-19 doses have been administered in Travis County, but there are over 500,000 eligible to get a vaccine. 

AUSTIN, Texas - More than 13,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be en route to Travis County this week.

Currently, even those who are eligible to receive a vaccine have not necessarily been able to get one.

"We only provide an appointment when we have a vaccine to go along with that appointment," said Stephanie Hayden-Howard, director of Austin Public Health, in an update on Friday.

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Austin Public Health (APH) provided a weekly virtual media Q&A with its leadership team to give reporters the opportunity to ask questions related to COVID-19.

Many in groups 1A and 1B are still stuck on waitlists due to demand outpacing supply. 30,000 doses have been administered in Travis County, but there are over 500,000 eligible to get a vaccine.

However this week, the state of Texas will get 520,000 new doses. Over 13,000 will go to the two vaccine hubs in Travis County, with a handful more going to smaller locations throughout the county. The hub in Williamson County will receive 8,000, and Hays County will receive just under 2,000.

The vaccines will either be ones made by Pfizer or Moderna. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson could apply for emergency FDA approval for their vaccine as soon as February.

"We are excited about the efficacy of these vaccines, said Dr. Mark Escott, interim health authority at APH. "When we started talking about the possibilities, we were going to be happy with a vaccine that was 60 to 70 percent effective, but now that we have three vaccines that are 100 percent effective at preventing severe disease is absolutely incredible."

Acting as the middle man for Travis County, APH has continually updated its website to make it more user-friendly for those trying to book an appointment.

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Right now, even if an educator qualifies for the 1A or 1B groups, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to get a vaccine right now.

"We are always making changes to the website," said Hayden-Howard. "What we decided to do this last round of updates is send it to a closed group of users just to test it and work out some of the bugs in it."

A third vaccine hub is also planned for northern Travis County.

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