Vaccination hub scheduled to close
Montgomery officials cite the J&J pause for waning demand
Montgomery County is preparing to shut down its mass COVID-19 vaccination hub as the demand for shots dwindles.
Jason Millsaps, executive director of the county Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said the hub at Woodforest Stadium in Shenandoah could close as early as mid-June. The county began its vaccination efforts in January at several locations, including the Montgomery County Fair Grounds, before moving all operations to Woodforest Stadium.
“The opportunity to take advantage of a quick and efficient vaccine without having to get an appointment through a doctor’s office or wait in line is starting to diminish since we are winding down,” Millsaps said.
To date, Millsaps said, 309,463 vaccination have been administered. Of those, 119,000 people are fully vaccinated. This week, he noted, the hub is expected to give more than 12,000 second doses as the demand for vaccination dropped following the pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to concerns about blood clots in rare cases. None of the vaccine offered at Woodforest was the one-time J&J shot.
“We believe the removal of that shot from the market dramatically decreased demand for any of the shots,” Millsaps told county commissioners Tuesday. “People who were on the fence got off the fence very quickly. Last week was our slowest week.”
Those still wanting the vaccine can arrive at Woodforest Stadium without an appointment and receive the shot.
As the number of those fully vaccinated grows locally and across the nation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday it had eased its guidelines on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers.
The CDC also noted those who are not vaccinated can be outside unmasked in some situations as well. The CDC originally advised people to wear a mask outdoors whenever they would be within 6 feet of others.
The new guidance represents another carefully calibrated step on the road back to normal from the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 570,000 people in U.S.
“Today, I hope, is a day when we can take another step back to the normalcy of before,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a press release. “Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what you can’t do. Today, I am going to tell you some of the things you can do, if you are fully vaccinated.”
Despite the easing of guidelines and increase in fully vaccinated residents, Montgomery County continues to see a rise in COVID-19 cases, albeit at a much slower rate.
The Montgomery County Public Health District reported the county’s new total number was 52,078 cases, with 1,513 of those active. The total number of deaths increased by one to 283; the victim was a Willis man in his 70s. The patient was hospitalized at the time of his death and had other health conditions in addition to testing positive for the virus.
Total hospitalizations increased by eight to 101 with 24 of those patients in critical care beds. To date, 27,446 people have recovered.
The county’s testing positive rate remains at 8 percent.