The state is ramping up COVID-19 vaccine distributions next week as eligibility to receive the vaccination expands to everyone age 16 or older. A total of 2,970 of the more than 1 million first-doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be shipped out to providers across the state have been allocated to two Hopkins County providers in Week 16 of vaccine allocations (March 29).
Christus Mother Frances Hospital – Sulphur Springs has been allocated a total of 1,800 first-doses of COVID-19 vaccines, 1,000 first-doses of the Moderna vaccine and 800 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Walgreens Pharmacy was also allocated 1,170 first-doses of the Pfizer vaccine. These are among 818,410 doses Texas Department of State Health Services has allocated to 779 providers in 202 counties in Texas. More than 200 additional first doses are expected to be available to pharmacy locations and federally qualified health centers directly from the federal government, according to DSHS.`
More than 10 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Texas, an increase of 1.2 million in the last week, DSHS reported Saturday afternoon. More than 6.8 million people have received at least one dose, and almost 3.5 million are fully vaccinated. A total of 9,057 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Hopkins County as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 26, including 3,245 people who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Those numbers should increase with the state offered COVID-19 vaccine clinic hosted Monday.
In addition to the first doses allocated, the state is ordering 587,950 doses intended as the second dose for people who received the first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine 3-6 few weeks ago. DSHS automatically orders second doses to arrive at providers in the week they can begin to be administered, so they will be available when needed. People should be able to return to the same provider to receive their second dose within six weeks of getting the first. In Hopkins County, 6,005 people have received the first dose of the vaccine and are waiting the prescribed time to return for the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Among Texas seniors, more than six in 10 have received at least one dose, and four in 10 are now fully vaccinated. More than 30 percent of all Texans at least 16 years old have gotten at least one dose.
In Hopkins County, 1,408 people age 65-79 have been fully vaccinated, as have 542 people age 80 and older, 744 people age 50-64 and 551 people ages 16-49. Another 2,434 people age 65-79 in Hopkins County have received the first-dose of the vaccine, as have 1,577 people age 50-64 years, 1,083 people ages 16-49 years and 904 people age 80 years or older.
Monday, all Texans ages 16 and older will be eligible to receive a vaccine. Vaccination has helped drive down the number of new cases and people hospitalized with COVID-19 to their lowest level since October. There were 2,292 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Texas, 1,737 new probable cases and 107 reported fatalities.
Hopkins County has had a total of 1,562 confirmed COVID-19 cases since March 27, 2020, the day the first confirmed COVID-19 case was confirmed for the county. Only 53 confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported for Hopkins County during the first 27 days of the month, including 13 new cases from March 1-7, 15 from March 8-14, 14 March 15-21 and 11 new confirmed cases from March 22-27.
From Feb. 1-27, DSHS reported 131 Hopkins County residents had received lab-confirmed molecular or viral results, and 135 for the month. There were 228 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported for Hopkins County from Jan. 1-27 and 247 for the month, 237 from Dec. 1-27 and 290 total confirmed cases in December, 133 confirmed cases from Nov. 1-27 and 138 for the month, 247 from Oct. 1-27 and 323 for the month of October, 97 from Sept. 1-27 and 118 for the month of September, 86 from Aug. 1-27 and 91 for the month, 82 confirmed cases from July 1-27 and 89 for the month. From March 27 to July 2 there had only been a total of 50 confirmed cases and 20 recoveries in Hopkins County.
Since Nov. 1, 2020, when the state first began tracking probable cases (although DSHS didn’t begin reporting them daily until Dec. 11, 2020) a total of 1.451 probable COVID-19 cases have also been reported for Hopkins County. These are cases in which an individual has either tested positive through an antigen test or has a combination of symptoms and a known exposure to someone with COVID-19 without a more likely diagnosis. So far this month, there have been 39 probable cases reported for Hopkins County, down from 132 from Feb. 1-27, 137 from Jan. 1-27, and 180 from Dec. 11-27. A total of 943 probable cases had been recorded by DSHS from Nov. 1-Dec. 10.
Overall, there have been a combined total of 91 new COVID-19 cases reported for Hopkins County in March 2021 and 3,013 cumulatively since the state began tracking cases, with 107 confirmed COVID-19 fatalities since July (when the first Hopkins County resident was reported to have died from COVID-19). The fatalities include 57 residents of Sulphur Springs nursing facilities as of March 12, 2021.
A total of 3,308 of the 67,146 staffed hospital beds across the state were occupied by 3,308 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients. The patient count in the COVID Unit at CMFH-SS this week had dwindled to two, as of the last COVID-19 update from Hopkins County/Sulphur Springs Emergency Management. Only 18 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Trauma Service Area F, which includes all hospitals in Northeast Texas on Friday, March 26, according to DSHS.
However, according to DSHS, “with hundreds of variant cases identified in Texas that have the potential to spread more quickly and cause more serious disease, vaccination remains critically important. The available vaccines have proven effective against the variant strains, so the more people vaccinated, the easier it will be to keep the variants under control and prevent new ones from emerging.”
