HCPs, Support Staff First in Line for Texas Vaccinations

On December 2, Texas governor Greg Abbott announced that the CDC is allotting over 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Texas this month. The initial vaccine doses, which should arrive by December 14, will be distributed according to the plan laid out by the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel [EVAP] appointed by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The EVAP defined their guiding principles for vaccine distribution in November, prior to the release of the CDC Advisory Committee plan, but there are few differences between the Texas and CDC recommendations. Both plans place healthcare workers at the front of the line to receive jabs. (During the Emergency Use Authorization, vaccination is purely voluntary until the FDA licenses and approves a formulation for general use).

Similar to the CDC proposal, the EVAP is organizing state vaccine distribution in phases and tiers. The first groups to receive the vaccine are those facing greatest risk of exposure and/or greatest vulnerability to the Covid-19 virus. The first stage of the plan, Phase 1a, defines the healthcare workers who will get their shots first—almost certainly with the two-stage Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The panel is now discussing the position of essential workers outside the healthcare system, such as public transit employees, delivery drivers, and grocery store staff. The panel is about to send for approval by the state commission of health.

Phase 1a of the state vaccine distribution plan focuses on healthcare workers:

First Tier HCWs working with Covid-19 positive or high-risk patients Long-term care staff working with vulnerable residents EMS providers engaged with 911 services Home health care and hospice workers

Second Tier Staff at outpatient care offices who work with symptomatic patients Direct care staff at emergency medical care facilities and urgent care clinics Community pharmacy staff who provide direct patient services such as administering Covid tests and vaccinations Public health and emergency response staff who administer Covid tests and vaccinations Death services providers directly handling decedents with Covid-19, including embalmers, mortuary/funeral home workers, medical examiners, and medical certifiers School nurses

Some 1.6 million Texas healthcare workers have positions in the top two tiers. 5 million Texans work in front-line jobs or are particularly vulnerable to the virus, according to preliminary estimates from the DSHS. This group includes nearly 640,000 healthcare workers and over 327,000 acute care hospital employees, plus almost 140,000 nursing home residents and 66,000 emergency medical workers. In addition, approximately 9.4 million Texans have underlying medical conditions that heighten the risk of severe complications from Covid-19.

So far, 3,800 health care providers and institutions have signed up to receive and administer the vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

The panel’s final recommendations are

The 17-member EVAP includes infectious disease specialists, epidemiologists, health affairs chancellors and deans from the Texas State University and A&M system, and local/regional public health officials. The nursing professional on the panel is public health specialist Casie Stoughton,RN, MPH, Director of Public Health, City of Amarillo.

By Koren Thomas

^{Koren Thomas is an associate editor of DailyNurse.com}