BEAUMONT, Texas — Even though more than 50 percent of Texans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated, Southeast Texas' vaccination rate is still below the state and national averages.
Southeast Texas doctors are concerned this could leave the area more vulnerable, because highly contagious strains like the Delta variant have begun to pop up in areas as close as Houston.
However, testing for the Delta variant is tricky, because most routine COVID tests do not reveal it.
Around the country, most COVID tests do not test for a particular variant.
"That leaves us to be more vulnerable when there is an outbreak of the virus,” Joshi said. “Thankfully it is under control, but if there is an outbreak or a more virulent strain comes out, then we are at a greater risk.”
Forty-four percent of people ages 12 and up in Jefferson County have received one dose of the COVID vaccine and only 37 percent are fully vaccinated, Joshi said.
This leaves the younger population and unvaccinated people much more susceptible to new variants.
Most of the Jefferson County’s new COVID cases are among unvaccinated young people.
“One reason is because of the overall lower vaccination rate,” Joshi said. “Secondly, the delta variant especially affects younger people, and our vaccination rate among the teenagers is much lower."
In Jefferson County, only 13 percent of those ages 12–15 years old have gotten at least one vaccine dose.
Doctor Msonthi Levine said he fears it will take a harsh reality check for more Southeast Texans to get vaccinated.
“Unfortunately, in my opinion, we would have to get back to some pretty staggering numbers of cases and deaths locally for Southeast Texans to start getting vaccines,” he said.
Getting a COVID vaccine shot is liberating, Levine said.
“If you have been vaccinated, you really have a lot more freedom to interact with people without a mask and you can get on cruises and travel,” he said.
Starting Monday, March 29, 2021, all Texans are eligible to register for the COVID-19 vaccine.
BEAUMONT
The Beaumont Public Health Department in conjunction with the Beaumont Office of Emergency Management will be administering the COVID-19 Vaccination to children ages 12 to 18 by appointment only beginning June 3, 2021.
- Call 409-785-4700 to make an appointment for your child.
- You do not need to pre-register your child online. Call to make an appointment for a child.
- You must have an appointment to receive the vaccine. Do not go to a City facility for a vaccination without an appointment.
List: Pharmacies in Texas getting the COVID vaccine
The federal government has begun shipping COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacy chain locations across the United States, including stores in Texas.
We have heard reports of people receiving shots of the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine at some CVS locations in Southeast Texas.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are four major chains in Texas getting doses:
- CVS
- H-E-B
- Good Neighbor Pharmacy - which represents independent typically family owned stores
- Brookshire Brothers
- Walmart
Notice that Walgreens and Kroger are not on this initial list.
How and when to sign up for an appointment
Each pharmacy has a webpage dedicated to its vaccine distribution, and they are all currently following the state's Phase 1A and 1B guidelines, which focuses on the older populations and the vulnerable.
CVS has announced it will start taking appointments as early as Feb. 9, as long as you meet those 1A and 1B requirements.
You can visit the COVID pages for each of these pharmacies using these links below. Keep checking back for when they announce registrations have started: