Vaccine effort continues across Hays County

Hays County residents continue to receive COVID-19 vaccines with nearly 20% of the population eligible to receive a dose fully protected. 

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 62,575 county residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or 34.12%, while 36,035 are considered fully vaccinated — 19.65%. The DSHS estimates that Hays County has a population of 183,380 who are 16 years or older. 

As of Tuesday, the DSHS states that 74.97% of Hays County residents 65 and older have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 54.76% of those in the same age group are fully vaccinated. 

As of March 29, all Texas adults are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorizations, those 16 and older can receive a Pfizer vaccine, while only those 18 and older can receive a Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shot.

To pre-register for a COVID-19 vaccine through Hays County visit haysinformed.com/covid-19. The DSHS has also created the Texas Public Health Vaccine Scheduler to sign up for a vaccine: https://getthevaccine.dshs.texas.gov/s/.

According to the DSHS, 8,307,828 Texans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 4,793,909 are fully vaccinated. 

Hays County receives vaccine allocation 

Hays County received additional COVID-19 vaccines from the state after it requested a temporary suspension of vaccine allocation last week. 

Hays County received 3,510 Pfizer vaccine doses from the DSHS. Meanwhile, 25 providers in the county were also allocated COVID-19 vaccine doses for the week of April 5, including 10 San Marcos locations. 

Ascension Medical Group Seton San Marcos, 2108 Hunter Road., received 100 Moderna doses. B and J Pharmacy, 2111 Hunter Road, was allocated 300 Johnson & Johnson doses. Genoa Healthcare San Marcos, 1200 N. Bishop St. Suite 200, received 100 Moderna doses. HEB Pharmacy 243, 641 E. Hopkins St., and HEB Pharmacy 455, 200 W. Hopkins St., each received 100 Johnson & Johnson doses. Live Oak Health Partners Community Clinic, 401 Broadway St. Suite A, was allocated 500 Moderna doses. San Marcos High School, 2601 Rattler Road, was given 300 Moderna doses. Texas State University Student Health Services, 298 Student Center Dr., was allocated 1,170 Pfizer doses. Walgreens Pharmacy 04550, 639 E. Hopkins St., and Walgreens Pharmacy, 12521, 1700 Ranch Road 12, each received 300 Johnson & Johnson doses. 

Local Health Department reports 36 recoveries from COVID-19, 14 new cases Tuesday

Hays County tallied 36 additional recoveries from COVID-19, 14 new lab-confirmed cases, two hospitalizations and one hospital discharge on Tuesday. 

The county considers 440 cases active — 22 less than Monday — and there have been 17,351 total cases since the first recorded coronavirus case within its boundaries on March 14, 2020. Hays County has tallied 595 COVID-19 cases over the past 21 days. There have been 1,907 probable cases spanning from April 2020 through April 6, 2021.

The local health department recently announced that it would not provide daily weekday COVID-19 updates. It will release full data on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But its COVID-19 dashboard will continue to be updated Monday through Friday. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported there have been 2,408,440 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and 47,822 fatalities as of Tuesday. There are currently 2,882 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 2,508 total coronavirus cases since March 1, 2020 — 2,254 among students and 254 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Tuesday. There are currently 93 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

San Marcos Consolidated ISD reported no active COVID-19 cases among students for the week of March 29.

COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks for most people. The disease, however, can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death, especially for older adults and people with existing health problems.