Let Me Put It This Way

Experts and county officials across the state stress that now is the moment to vaccinate as many people as possible to avoid a new surge in COVID-19 cases as new, more contagious variants of the virus continue to spread. https://t.co/HgWtfO3R0V

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) April 26, 2021

Across Texas, local leaders are trying to ramp up outreach efforts and fill more appointments. Houston's FEMA hub at NRG Park is now offering walk-in slots, a shift from prior appointment-only requirements that kept some residents from getting early doses. The state will also be rolling out a TV campaign to boost vaccinations, Department of State Health Services spokesperson Chris Van Deusen told the Wall Street Journal.

Local health officials say efforts to vaccinate older Texans have been successful: As of April 21, nearly 60% of Texans age 65 and older have been fully vaccinated. Since the state opened vaccinations to all adults on March 29, around one-fifth of Texans between 16 to 49 years old — who make up the biggest proportion of eligible adults — have been fully vaccinated.

“It seems we’re getting to the point that most people eager to get vaccinated have gotten at least their first dose,” Imelda Garcia, associate commissioner of laboratory and infectious disease services for DSHS, said during a Thursday press conference. “The next phase will be about helping ensure that vaccine is more easily available to those folks who are not going to go as far out of their way.”

....

Texas’ vaccination efforts are still missing people who have faced obstacles for months, said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston. Some lack internet access or the computer skills to make an online appointment, while others lack transportation to reach a vaccine provider.

And Black and Hispanic Texans continue to be vaccinated at lower rates than whites, even as appointments become more available across the state.

NRG stadium is 11 miles from where I sit.  That's as the crow flies.  It would take me 30 minutes to an hour to drive down there, depending on time of day and traffic, and I'm in a neighborhood considered "close in."  I drove about 5 miles in the opposite direction to get my shots.  I arranged it on the internet, and I had the time and means to travel in the morning, after rush hour traffic had subsided.  Walk-ins are a very good idea.  But most people under 65 are still working during the day, which means their weekends are spent running errands.  If they don't have a car or easy transportation to NRG, they ain't goin'; especially not twice.

I suspect we have a distribution problem as much as anything.  The people who can drive, or be driven, have filled their appointments.  The people still working, or who want their weekends back (and are getting them thanks to Gov. Absent) are not rushing to make appointments or just walk in.  I think the especial problem here is the two dose regimen.  I read recently that number of people got one shot and don't want to bother with the second.  Is that sufficient, or not?  Do they care?

I know one thing, which is not so much a reality for me anymore:  people are busy.  Too damned busy, mostly, but they are busy.  Spending half a day getting to a location for a shot, then planning to do it all over again in 3 weeks:  the people who can do that, by and large, have done it.  The people who aren't doing it either don't care enough to, or don't have the ease of transport and time that people over 65 do.  Your adult kids might drive you to the clinic; your teenage kids won't, or probably can't because you don't have a car.  Or because you're busy, and it doesn't seem that important.

I remember the polio vaccine, and none of us were quite so busy then.  But it was a different arrangement, too.  There was a location, you showed up (I guess; maybe it was by appointment), there was a table covered in cups with sugar cubes, you were given one; end of story.

That world is gone.  And this world is not so easily organized or motivated, as that world was.  Although I suspect some things haven't changed, and too many Black and Hispanic Texans are working too hard (or too many jobs) to take most of a weekend, twice, to find a site and stand in line.  Or just get there.  They should; but I expect they just aren't motivated.

Add to that the fact Texas has the largest number of uninsured persons in the country, and you have a significant portion of the population with little or no experience with healthcare.  That, too, is probably a factor.  The Texas Senate just refused to take federal funds to expand Medicaid.  Maybe we can hold the entire GOP responsible for some of this?

Then again, it comes back to us.  We voted for them.  This is the government we wanted.

Thank goodness Gov. Absent lifted the mask and business restrictions because we have the vaccine now.  Yeah, that's gonna do us a lot of good.