In rural parts of Texas, hospitals will have to wait a little longer for the vaccine for the Covid-19 vaccine
John Henderson, president and CEO of TORCH. Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals says rural hospitals are being left out. "It's not that rurals were at the end of the list, it's that rurals, as of this moment are not on the list of Texas hospitals to receive the vaccine."
He says they can handle the Pfizer vaccine has to be kept at ultra cold temps. The bigger problems is it's bundled in doses of 975 and most rural hospitals don't have that many employees. "I understand that there are hard decisions, but I think any distribution philosophy that excludes rural is a mistake. We should have been included. I hope they see the Moderna distribution as an opportunity to rebalance and catch rural hospitals and providers up."
The Moderna vaccine is expected to be approved for distribution soon. Henderson says it will come bundled in doses of 100 and does not have to be stored at those ultra cold temperatures.
Henderson says most of the rural hospitals are registered and have entered the data for their front line caregivers to give the vaccine.
