CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Monday, if you want one you can get one. Texas will open up vaccine eligibility to all adults.
You have to be 16 or older for Pfizer's and 18 and older for Moderna’s and Johnson and Johnson's. Corpus Christi-Nueces County's Public Health Director called the move “the best thing they can do.”
"It’s nice to open it all up to all of the population, basically, that’s eligible," said health director Annette Rodriguez."But you need vaccine otherwise people get very frustrated. So, not just with the state, they get frustrated with us."
In the state’s announcement they said more vaccines will be available next week. Rodriguez said the she doesn’t know what that means. The state hasn’t communicated how much that means or when they would come.
She believes there's a few reasons the state opened eligibility up. One, we're in a race to vaccinate as many people as quickly as we can to avoid the spread of new COVID-19 strains. Two, those left eligible in Phase 1 may be a majority of people who don't want a vaccine. It's led to a decline nationwide in people registering for a vaccine.
"Not just here locally but across the United States, we’re seeing that people are not keeping their appointments," said Rodriguez. "We’re trying to figure it out. Is this because they have so many other options, so they’re going other places? Because we do know that people will register at multiple locations to try to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Which is fine, but we’re hoping that’s the case."
So if you're ready, now you can go to the 24/7 online registration portal and sign up and be placed on a wait list for your first shot.
"Once you get your second vaccine, make sure you wait the two weeks," Rodriguez said. "It takes two weeks to build up those great immunities that you have inside you. And you’ll have that full protection if you will, that 95 percent. So don’t start taking chances. You know, 'I just got vaccinated and now I can take off my mask.'"
While local pharmacies have had the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the health district hasn't gotten any. With production getting better, Rodriguez hopes they will arrive by the end of March.