Elderly and infirm Texans get priority in next vaccine phase

State health officials announced Monday that Texans 65 and older and those over 16 who have chronic medical conditions will be next in line to receive COVID-19 vaccines, straying from new federal guidance that recommends targeting those over 75 and essential workers including teachers and public safety employees.

The decision comes after a panel of health experts recommended that the state prioritize people most vulnerable to the disease. More than 70 percent of known COVID deaths in Texas have occurred in people 65 and older, and underlying health conditions such as heart disease and cancer create added health risks, according to the Department of State Health Services.

“This approach ensures that Texans at the most severe risk from COVID-19 can be protected across races and ethnicities and regardless of where they work,” said Imelda Garcia, the department’s associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious disease services, in a statement.

About 8 million Texans would be eligible in the second group of vaccine recipients, according to the department.

It will likely be weeks at least before enough doses of the vaccine are available to begin inoculating the second group. The state just began vaccinating an estimated 1.9 million health care workers and residents of longterm care facilities who are eligible in the first round.

Federal officials expect vaccine doses to be limited for several months, with less than a third of enough doses available by February to cover the country’s population of 330 million.

Texas officials are planning to receive about 1.4 million doses by the end of the year.

While states have discretion on who to vaccinate next, a panel of federal health experts voted on Sunday to recommend prioritizing people over 75 and certain frontline workers including all teachers, firefighters and grocery store employees.

There has been a flurry of lobbying in Texas for priority access to the vaccines, including from teachers and other school employees, who expect more students to return for in-class instruction in the spring.

“We believe teachers and all of the other school employees should be given priority and we are going to be very disappointed if they are not,” said Clay Robison, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association. He had not yet seen the specifics of the announcement.

There are between 600,000 and 700,000 estimated school employees across the state, Robinson said.

“The future of the state’s economy depends on strong schools,” he said. “Strong schools depend on healthy teachers.”

On Monday, shipments of a second vaccine, developed by Moderna, began arriving hospitals across Texas. The state reported more than 10,000 people hospitalized with COVID on Monday, the highest total since mid July. About 25,400 Texans have died from the disease since March.