Bexar’s COVID cases continue to surge
5 more deaths as hospitalizations increase for sixth consecutive day
As more alarming news emerges about the U.K. variant of the coronavirus having reached Houston and an even more contagious strain rising in South Africa, officials of Bexar County and San Antonio announced Friday evening in their daily briefing that local COVID-19 cases continued to surge, though none involved the new virus variants.
Officials here reported 1,079 new coronavirus cases and five new deaths.
The seven-day average of new cases is at 1,550 per day, only slightly lower than Wednesday’s record of 1,568. Almost 1,400 COVID patients are being treated in San Antonio hospitals, including 388 in intensive care units and 216 patients on ventilators.
Friday saw 179 new hospital admissions, with only two arriving from El Paso, where weeks ago state officials dispersed dozens of COVID-19 patients to other major cities in hopes of releasing pressure on that border city’s overrun ICU beds.
The five new deaths occurred between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2, all of them at University Hospital. All were male: two Hispanic men over 60, two others over 60 and one Hispanic man in his 40s.
Hospitalizations have increased for the sixth day in a row, rising to nearly 12,000 cases just since the start of the new year.
As concerning as the U.K. variant of the virus has been, the BBC reported that the new South African coronavirus variant 501.V2 is more contagious and could be resistant to the effectiveness of current vaccines. While not yet detected in the U.S., it is already the dominant virus variant in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, and it has been detected in Austria, Norway, Japan and the U.K.
But the news of the day locally was that officials have announced that mass vaccinations will begin Monday at the Alamodome. Potential recipients must pre-register on the city-county COVID-19 website.
County Judge Nelson Wolff said the city and county would each receive 9,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for use in the first phase of vaccinations. The Pfizer vaccine, while proving to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19, must be stored at about 94 degrees below zero, thus requiring special freezer units at the Alamodome and University Hospital, he said.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, this week raised concerns about the Pfizer drug’s storage requirements — it can remain viable in a regular refrigerator for only about 24 hours.
“The complexities of this plan for vaccine storage and handling will have major impact in our ability to efficiently deliver the vaccine,” she said.
A competing vaccine produced by Moderna does not require specialized freezing requirements.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he hoped the shipments of vaccination supplies from the state will continue uninterrupted until the need has been met in the county. He said that next week there would be six days of appointments at the Alamodome, with 1,500 shots delivered each day.
He added that recipients may also sign up for the vaccine by calling 311.