Registration to receive the COVID-19 vaccine ended approximately five hours after it was opened on Wednesday, when all available doses were allocated.
About 450 residents will hopefully receive their first blow in two months, according to Denton County public health spokeswoman Jennifer Rainey.
“Demand will obviously exceed the amount of supply available,” she said.
Texas Phase 1B group of people eligible for vaccinations includes people over the age of 65 and people over the age of 16 who are either pregnant or have one or more chronic health conditions.
Rainey said most of those registered Wednesday were in Group 1B, but that doesn’t mean everyone in 1A has been vaccinated. She said the state leadership had instructed them not to give priority to one group over the other.
She said DCPH was aware that there were still health workers in the county who had not yet been vaccinated.
Rainey said the county’s health department has seven people answering the phone to accept registrations Wednesday, with room for another 30 callers to wait.
“We have registered everyone for the vaccine we have,” she said Thursday afternoon. “At this time, we are not making a waiting list.”
Denton County commissioners are ready to consider allocating funds to purchase a vaccine management system during a meeting Friday morning.
The system is the product of a partnership between Microsoft and Mazik Global. It would cost $ 271,000 for the first year of operation and $ 186,000 each year thereafter, according to the agenda item for county commissioners.
Rainey said county officials hope the system will allow the county to place residents on a vaccine waiting list.
It would also allow them to notify people by text and / or email when they can vaccinate and would automatically remind them to schedule an appointment to receive the second dose of vaccine.
The meeting will begin on Friday at 11 am. Those wishing to follow this can do so online by accessing dentoncounty.gov/remote or by calling 346-248-7799 or toll-free 1-888-475-4499 (for the meeting ID press 764 412 814 #).
Rainey said DCPH recommends that people “also contact your primary care provider or local pharmacy to determine when they will start vaccinating their clients.”
Arriving by phone on Thursday, Rainey said the county has no notice before the general public about vaccine dispersal programs.
The Texas State Department of Health is updating distribution programs for next week every Friday, but it was not immediately clear Thursday whether and how New Year’s Day could affect this release.
MARSHALL REID can be accessed at 940-566-6862 and via Twitter at @MarshallKReid.