The Texas Department of State Health Services says 1,488,783 people have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination and 265,786 had been fully immunized through Monday. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says even though more of the vaccine is becoming available, people will need to follow guidelines for several more months.
Fauci spoke at a virtual conference at the Potters House church in Dallas. He said the federal government hoped to get the vaccine to 20 million people by the end of 2020, but just seven million Americans have received a shot so far.
"Let me start off at the outset by saying there's no excuses for that. We need to do better. You always have to admit that," he said.
Fauci said public health guidelines would have to stay in place until 70-85 percent of the population is immunized.
"We don't want people to get the impression that just because we're vaccinating people that we don't have to worry about public health measures," he said. "We have to continue to implement them until society is relatively free of this virus."
The City of Dallas began vaccinating first responders at a hub set up at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Tuesday. The convention center will open to the public Thursday by appointment. The city received 5,000 doses this week.
Fauci says local officials need to focus on setting up multiple ways to reach people with the vaccine.
"There's a big danger of excluding the people we're all worried about: the poor people who don't have access, the people who live in areas where pharmacies are not readily accessible," he says.
Through Monday, the Department of State Health Services reported 12,785 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across Texas, down 1,085 from a week earlier. In North Texas, hospitals had 3,569 COVID-19 patients using 21.8% of capacity.
