Harris County makes ‘leftover’ doses of vaccine available to school district employees

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Harris County teachers and school staff on the COVID-19 vaccine waiting list are now being requested by Harris County Public Health if there is any “remaining” dose later in the day.

The program was developed by Harris County Public Health as a way to ensure that no doses of vaccine were wasted during the vaccination of most frontline employees.

“The idea we started last week is that we are going to allocate our ‘no show’ appointments to school officials on our Level 1A and Level 1B waiting lists,” said Dr. Maria Rivera, Harris County Public Health .

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Rivera pointed out that Harris County mass vaccination sites change locations every week and usually take place in high school stadiums or other school facilities with large parking lots. When people fill the Harris County Health Department’s waiting list, he already asks if you are an employee of a school district and in which district. Therefore, it is easy for the county computer system to obtain a list of eligible school district employees in the area where the mega-sites are located.

“They need to be Level 1A or 1B and they need to be able to access our sites quickly,” said Rivera. She adds another benefit is that educators generally live nearby and can sign up quickly on their computers when they are notified of extra doses that may expire.

Harris County says it is working with all 21 school districts in the county, as well as charter schools and private schools in each area. As megavaccine locations change from week to week, the county changes the districts they contact each week, focusing on the districts where the county is using school property and where employees can live nearby.

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If you are an educator and want to make sure you are included in the vaccine dose call list “at the show”, make sure you are registered on the Harris County vaccine waiting list. Specify which school district you work for from the drop-down menu. Reminder, the process will still be considered and randomized, therefore, only employees qualified according to state guidelines will be contacted.

“This is a way of ensuring that it does not go to waste and always goes to the people who are entitled,” said Rivera.

The video presented above is from an earlier report.

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