Austin Receives Second Dose Shipment Of Coronavirus Vaccine

AUSTIN, TX — The Austin health district has received the second dose shipment for residents who already have received their first inoculation guarding against the coronavirus, officials said Wednesday.

The second shots of a two-dose regimen that started on the week of Jan. 11 were received on Tuesday, Austin Public Health officials revealed. Health district officials have started contacting those who received their first dose by email or phone with information on second dose appointments, officials said. Staff will work through the weekend to continue scheduling, officials added, noting that appointments are required for both doses and walk-ups will not be accepted.

“We want to address the anxiety and frustration about second doses by assuring everyone that we are working diligently to get booster shots scheduled and administered as soon as we have them delivered,” said Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard. “We have staff who have been tirelessly working the emergency response, keeping our cases comparatively lower than other metropolitan areas.”

While the second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released guidance that allows for second doses to be administered up to six weeks, or 42 days, after the first dose.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has also reiterated the six-week timeline and is working with providers to order second doses 7-14 days after receipt of the first dose shipment. Austin Public Health officials said they are ensuring the second doses are ordered on a timely basis.

“When a physician prescribes medication, it typically requires you to take it on a stringent timeline, that is not the case with the COVID-19 booster shots,” said Mark Escott, Interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority. “There is some flexibility allowed between doses without diminishing efficacy.”

Escott added: “Studies of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines indicate that immunity following the first dose is approximately 50 percent when evaluated up to 14 days following the first dose of the vaccine. For Moderna, which is what APH is administering, the efficacy for the single-dose when evaluated more than 14 days after the first dose was 92.1%. While this represents a small group of 2,000 individuals studied, it does provide reassurance that the effectiveness of the first dose improves with time.”

Additional Information:

• As of Feb. 9, more than 580,000 have created accounts in Austin Public Health’s online portal, with 286,000 people pre-registered for the vaccine. Of those who are pre-registered, there are 217,000 people eligible to receive the vaccine, and 181,000 eligible without a first dose appointment.
• For those 181,000 who are currently eligible and waiting to receive a first dose appointment, we have received your vaccine pre-registration. However, due to the limited supply of vaccine, Austin Public Health is not able to immediately provide appointments for everyone eligible. Residents are urged to continue checking the registration portal.
• For those who are currently not eligible in the system, Austin Public Health said it has received your vaccine pre-registration. Austin Public Health will notify residents once they become eligible to receive the vaccine.

For additional COVID-19 information and updates, visit the COVID-19 Information portal.