A brutal winter storm has knocked out power for millions of Texans, and forced health officials in Harris County to find a way to quickly distribute doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine.
The power went out early Monday at a county facility that was storing 8,430 doses of the vaccine, and when a backup generator failed to turn on, officials put together a plan to "allocate and salvage" the vaccines, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said on Monday night. "We were looking for places where there were already large numbers of people, or where there were nurses, trained medical professionals who could administer the vaccines, and where we wouldn't need folks to drive somewhere in this very dangerous weather and road conditions."
Workers distributed 5,410 doses to four centers in Houston, with 3,000 doses going to the Harris County Jail, 1,000 doses to Methodist Hospital, 810 doses to Rice University, and 600 doses to LBJ Hospital and Ben Taub Hospital. After Moderna provided "updated guidance" to the county saying that the remainder of the doses could be re-refrigerated, it was determined that they would be administered later to people on a waitlist, per normal procedure.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Hidalgo said county health officials have been doing an incredible job working to keep people safe throughout the pandemic, and Monday was no different. "It's a point of pride that this was figured out that it was dealt with, and it should be a point of pride to our partners," she said.
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
