BEAUMONT, Texas — It's a new challenge county leader are tackling. Months ago, vaccine hubs were seeing hundreds of people a day who were ready to roll up their sleeve, but that's just not the case anymore.
Now, leaders are exploring new options to get more people vaccinated.
Jasper, Newton and Port Arthur have all hit the vaccine wall, which means they're having to get creative.
Jasper County Judge Mark Allen says officials are seeing small numbers ranging from 50 to 100 people getting vaccinated.
Port Arthur Health Director Judith Smith says they’re also not seeing a lot of first-time vaccine requests from adults.
“We actually hit the wall, probably several weeks back, are people coming in for vaccinations or the request for vaccinations, really dropped off,” said Olen Bean with the Newton County Emergency Management
It’s a wall that shows not as many people are hopping in line and rolling up their sleeve to get that shot.
So, what are these areas doing to get more shots into arms?
Port Arthur Health Director says it's about informing the community.
“So, we want to try to reach out to them and at least offer them, give them the education and offered them the ability to receive the vaccine,” Smith said.
Jasper County judge says they're exploring other options.
“We’re utilizing our sub courthouse and we plan to have vaccine clinics there on weekends, maybe Saturday and Sunday early Saturday, so maybe that encourages less of a drive,” Allen said.
And Newton County Emergency Management says there's just not much to do right now. “Not a whole lot now,” Bean said. “Other than our media trying to get the word out.”
Newton County's challenge is unique. They can't vaccinate Texas teens because they don't have the Pfizer vaccine.
“We have Moderna. You know the Pfizer and the Johnson & Johnson has been approved down to 12 and with Moderna, it's still not that age group being approved. So, we're not hitting the kids or anything,” Bean tells 12News.
All three areas of Southeast Texas say there is no "I" in team.
County leaders and local health departments both play a role in helping get vaccines out and educating people.
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