Lack of vaccines irks officials

Nirenberg: Limited supply is like using ‘a thimble to bail out a sinking canoe’

Coronavirus cases continue to infect thousands of San Antonians daily, with 2,840 new cases reported by Metro Health on Saturday.

That’s just 49 fewer than Friday’s 2,889 cases, with both days coming close to Jan. 10’s recordhigh 3,002 cases.

The hope many are placing in getting the public vaccinated to help stop the spread of the disease is wearing thin because San Antonio just isn’t getting enough doses.

At Saturday’s briefing, which has resumed on weekends because of the continuing surge, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff expressed frustration at the lack of vaccines.

While more than 1 million people in Bexar County are in the groups now eligible for the medicine, only about 20,000 to 30,000 doses are coming in weekly, Nirenberg said.

“You could liken it to the state and federal government giving us a thimble to bail out a sinking canoe,” the mayor said. “We have far more people that are eligible for the vaccine than we can supply.”

The people eligible now include first responders, those living or working in nursing homes, everyone older than 65 and those 16 or older with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

“An environment of scarcity … has been exacerbated by the limited distribution to our community of vaccines and the eligibility criteria that has essentially opened the floodgates for the vaccines that we do have,” Nirenberg said.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases reported daily crossed the 2,000 threshold for the first time Friday, with an average of 2,041. The seven-day average reported Saturday broke the record again, increasing to 2,261.

The city also reported six additional deaths Saturday, which occurred within the past two weeks.

The list of deceased includes an Anglo man in his 50s; a Hispanic man and woman in their 70s; an Anglo man in his 80s who was a resident of the west campus of Blue Skies of Texas; and a Hispanic woman in her 80s and an Asian man in his 90s who were both residents of Alamo Heights Health and

Rehabilitation.

Since the pandemic began ripping its way through Bexar County, 146,343 people have contracted the virus and 1,716 have died.

Just in the past week, San Antonio has added 15,896 new cases and 123 deaths.

Vaccination appointments are once again open at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center.

WellMed received 9,000 additional doses Friday and has already filled 2,496 appointments, according to retired Maj. Gen. Jimmie Keenan, a registered nurse who is operations leader of all WellMed clinics in Texas, New Mexico and Florida.

To schedule an appointment, call 833-968-1745.

Since so many people called the number at the same time — with 380,000 trying the number Saturday alone — it may take a few tries to get connected to one of the 150 operators staffing the phone lines.

Like Nirenberg and Wolff, Keenan acknowledged how frustrating it can be to keep getting a busy signal or not being able to get through at all, but she urged patience.

More than a third of hospital patients Saturday have tested positive for the coronavirus, for a total of 1,394 patients — seven more than Friday. The most coronavirus patients hospitals have seen so far was 1,433 patients just a few days before on Monday.

Some 182 patients with the coronavirus had just checked in within the past 24 hours.

Area hospitals are caring for only one El Paso patient as the number of patients affected in Bexar County climbs and threatens to overwhelm the hospital system.

Of the 1,394 patients Saturday, 424 were in intensive care — 21 more than the previous day — and 241 needed ventilators to breathe.