When and where Texans can get the COVID-19 vaccine
Short supplies and erratic delivery are causing long waits for inoculations. We update this guide daily to give you what you need to know:
Who can get it now?
Group 1A: Includes health care workers in hospital settings working directly with COVID-19 or high-risk patients, long-term care staff and residents, EMS providers and home health care workers.
Group 1B: A far larger group — anyone 65 or older, pregnant women and anyone 16 or older with a pre-existing condition. These include cancer, heart issues such as heart failure or coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, solid organ transplant, obesity or severe obesity, sickle cell disease or Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Group 1C: Texans 50 to 64 years old became eligible Monday.
School, child care staff: Teachers, staff and bus drivers for pre-primary, primary and secondary schools, as well as Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and those who work for licensed child care providers, including center-based and family care providers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is requiring retail pharmacies to “set aside all currently unbooked vaccination slots” through March 31 for those in this category.
President Joe Biden has directed all states to make every adult eligible for the vaccine by May 1.
If I qualify, where can I get it?
You can make an appointment with a pharmacy, hospital, clinic or other provider but will face delays. The city offers text alerts about opportunities to get appointments with public providers — to sign up, text Vaccine or, for alerts in Spanish, Vacuna to 55000.
Providers also are listed on a map on the Texas Department of State Health Services vaccine information page at bit.ly/2jvpru3. Scroll down to “Where to Get Vaccinated” and click on “Large Vaccination Hubs” or “Vaccine Availability Map.” Call ahead to make sure a provider has doses of vaccine.
VIA Metropolitan Transit offers free rides to or from an appointment at a city- or countysponsored COVID-19 vaccination site. Check Viainfo.net for the latest service updates.
Here’s where some major providers stand now:
City: All first-dose Pfizer vaccine appointments that Metropolitan Health District offered online have been taken. Check
covid19.sanantonio.gov/serv ices/vaccination-for-covid-19 in case openings become available due to cancellations. Appointments still available through 311, option 8, but those are only open to seniors or residents without internet access. Community health workers in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods also are signing up people. More information is at
bit.ly/35e0u7y.
University Health: Registration is ongoing, with notification weekly if enough doses are available to confirm appointments. Updates will be on the system’s
Go Mobile app, which sends notifications when new appointments open up, and its newsletter, available at Healthfocussa .net .Orgoto wecandoitsa .com or call 210-644-1960 for information.
Wellmed: The phone hotline,
833-968-1745, will remain open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until appointments are filled. The shots are given at the Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and the Treviño López Senior One-stop Center. Appointments required, no walkins. Visit wellmedhealth care.com/vaccine or Wellmed’s
Facebook page for updates.
Schertz: The city of Schertz is a registered COVID-19 vaccine provider. If the city’s waiting list for appointments is open, you can sign up at
schertz.com/2027/vaccinewaitlist. You do not have to be a Schertz resident. Go to
Schertz.com/alerts to get Civicready alerts — that tool will send notifications when the wait list reopens.
Centromed: Registration will reopen once more vaccines are received. A link to sign up for an appointment will be available at
centromedsa.com/cv19vax/.
Christus Santa Rosa Health System: Has an appointment system for some clinics and outpatient care sites. Use the online chat function found at
vaccinate.christushealth.org to be screened for eligibility. If the chat function does not appear, no appointments are available.
Communicare Health Centers: Will contact current patients eligible to schedule appointments while supply lasts.
Methodist Healthcare: Vaccinating its employees, providers and transplant patients, along with health care workers in the community. For information, call 210-575-0580 or visit
exne.ws/sahealth.
San Antonio Military Health System: Brooke Army Medical Center is booking appointments and giving vaccines to high-risk beneficiaries 16 to 64 years old, along with beneficiaries 65 or older. BAMC has adjusted its procedures and will announce appointments for the upcoming week every Tuesday evening on its Facebook page. Appointments are limited and booked only as vaccine supply is confirmed, available online at
www.tricareonline.com or by calling the Consult Appointment Management Office at 210-9169900 or 800-443-2262, option 8, from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Military and civilian personnel in groups 1A or 1B should schedule vaccine appointments through their unit’s chain of command. BAMC’S vaccine site is on the main post of Fort Sam Houston in the Training Support Center, Building 4110 at 2536 Garden Ave. The Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center site is located in Building 4554, 1100 Wilford Hall Loop, on Joint Base San Antonio-lackland with check-in at the “C-wing” entrance. Updates at bamc.tricare.mil and through social media.
South Texas Veterans Health Care System: The VA will call veterans to schedule vaccine appointments as supply allows. Updates will be posted at
www.southtexas.va.gov or
facebook.com/sanantonio VAMC.
UT Health San Antonio: Scheduling anyone who falls in groups 1A, 1B and 1C. Register and check availability of firstdose vaccine appointments at
schedule.utmedicinesa.com.
CVS: Vaccines offered at 180 locations around the state, including sites in San Antonio, Balcones Heights, Cibolo, Schertz, Universal City and New Braunfels. Check availability at
Cvs.com or through the CVS Pharmacy mobile app; registration is required. Those without online access can call CVS customer service at 800-746-7287. Appointments required; no walk-ins accepted.
H-E-B: Check availability at
vaccine.heb.com. Customers due for second doses will be contacted directly.
Walgreens: Check availability at Walgreens.com/sched ulevaccine. No walk-ins accepted. Also has been vaccinating residents and staff of long-term care facilities. Check exne.ws/ wal for updates.
Walmart, Sam’s Club: Vaccines are being offered at eight Walmart stores in San Antonio, one in Universal City and one in Cibolo.
Check for availability and schedule appointments online at wal mart.com/cp/1228302 and at samsclub.com/phar macy.
Comal County: The county’s vaccine standby list has been reopened. Seniors 65 and older are urged to register, as are people in groups 1B and 1C. The list was opened to people 50 to 64 years old Monday. A link to register for the list is posted on the Comal County website, co.comal.tx.us, and the county’s social media sites. Those without computer access or needing help can call 830-6205575.
How much does it cost?
The vaccine is free, regardless of insurance status.
Do I have to show proof of eligibility?
DSHS has not offered guidance on how providers should check for proof of qualifying for a shot. Some providers have created their own policies. H-E-B said patients can provide an ID or a prescription, while University Hospital has said it will take people at their word if they say they have underlying conditions.
When San-san Yu drove to Noodle Tree to show her support for the restaurant that had been tagged by anti-asian hate speech, she found a collection of heartshaped cutouts with messages of encouragement.
“Our unity is our strength & diversity is our power,” read one of cutouts taped on the glass doors. Others were on the windows.
“Our window was filled with hate, but today it’s full of love and support,” owner Mike Nguyen said.
Since news that the Northwest Side restaurant had been vandalized early Sunday, Nguyen has been inundated with outpourings of support such as the heartshaped cutouts and hundreds of calls and emails locally and from out of state. Supporters also have purchased more than $3,000 worth of gift cards.
Nguyen said he’s trying to respond to all the calls and emails, but there’s so many he wanted people to know that he and his staff “may not be able to answer in a timely manner.”
People also are indicating they plan to show their support by coming into the restaurant, which has Nguyen sounding a note of caution.
“Everybody wants to support us, but we want to make it safe,” Nguyen said.
He encourages everyone who wants to dine in to make reservations online at www.noodle treetx.com to help with crowd control.
Nguyen said they will serve people until supplies run out, which happened quickly Sunday.
Others who can’t come in are buying gift cards to show their support.
“I want them (the cards) to go back into the community and help as well. I want to share all love and support I have and put it back into this community.”
He said anyone who has purchased a gift card but is not planning on using it can send the gift card code to noodletreetx@gmail.com to be used by those able to dine in.
Yu, who is half Chinese, said the show of support almost atones for the hate-fueled messages left over the weekend.
“For him to want people to wear a mask in his establishment,
it’s just so little to ask for him to get that response,” she said.
Sgt. Matthew Brown said Tuesday that investigators are pursuing the case as a hate crime.
Currently, it’s considered a class A misdemeanor because of the amount attached to the damages — $750. But if it becomes a hate crime, it would become a felony, he said.
San Antonio Police Chief William Mcmanus said detectives are trying to find out as much information as they can about the perpetrators.
“That’s nothing but a bigoted, cowardly move to do something like that. It’s just not San Antonio by any means,” Mcmanus said. “I don’t understand why someone would write something like that, or any kind of racially charged thing anywhere.”
The chief said Nguyen should continue doing business and call 911 if any problems occur.
The graffiti, some of which read “No Masks,” appeared to be a response to his speaking out on CNN last week against Gov. Greg Abbott’s lifting of the mask mandate.
The days after his first appearance on cable news were filled with social media comments and messages firing back at Nguyen for his decision to continue requiring masks at his restaurant.
Nguyen is at higher risk for contracting COVID-19 as a result of his battle with lymphoma.
He said he has kept the operating capacity of his restaurant at 60 percent and 75 percent out of safety concerns for his co-workers, customers and himself since his restaurant opened last year. He’s also limited the hours.
The restaurant is open from noon to 3 p.m. and then 4:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday, the restaurant is open from noon to 8 p.m.
“None of us have gotten sick,” Nguyen said during an interview Sunday.
On Monday, Nguyen, who is half Vietnamese and half French, appeared on CNN to speak out once more.
He said he was concerned for his safety and that he was still receiving threats online.
But “I’m not going to back down, I’m not going to be intimidated, you’re not going to scare me.”
“The hate crime against Asian Americans has spiked the past year,” he told CNN. “I want … that we speak out before and put awareness to it so that it stops before it gets to a deadly point.”