Three additional hospitals in North Texas are expecting their first shipment of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday: Parkland and UT Southwestern in Dallas, and Texas Health in Fort Worth. A total of 19 hospitals across the state are expecting 75,000 doses of the vaccine Tuesday.
Doctors, nurses and staff who come in contact with COVID-19 patients are the first to receive the vaccine, followed by additional hospital staff.
Residents and staff at long-term care facilities expect to receive the vaccine the week after Christmas.
"To me, that's the best Christmas gift I can have," says Angela Norris a vice-president at Stonegate Senior Living in Lewisville, which operates long-term care facilities in Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma. "It's knowing residents, not just at Stonegate Senior Living, but the residents across the country and the staff are able to get vaccinated against this horrible virus."
Governor Greg Abbott's office says 3,200 facilities have signed up for a federal program to vaccinate residents and staff. The program is free; staff from CVS and Walgreens pharmacies will go to the facilities to administer shots.
"In order to stop this, the only light at the end of the tunnel is receiving a vaccine," Norris says.
As the vaccine arrives at more hospitals, the Department of State Health Services reported hospitals across North Texas had just 76 available ICU beds Monday. Hospitals in the area had 2,674 COVID-19 patients, using 17.09% of capacity, up from 2,435 patients using 16.13% of capacity December 1.
