Texas – The Texas Department of State Health Services says Austin Public Health will receive its first shipment of second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday.
As those nearing the 28-day mark since their first dose from APH are still waiting to schedule their second appointments, KXAN checked in with another city in Texas that’s serving as a model for vaccine distribution.
Amarillo has been applauded for its smooth process. There’s no online registration. People simply show up at the city’s civic center and wait in line for a vaccine.
Amarillo is still in Phase 1B, but Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner says the city isn’t turning away anyone else who shows up, even if they’re not in that group.
Tanner says the process for getting the second dose is just as easy.
“They get a card when they leave, and it tells them the day they can come back,” she explained. “They can come back either a day before or the day of or the day after. It’s not dead set on exactly 28 days.”
She continued to explain, “When you go up to the door, there’s a guy standing there, and he says, ‘Are you here for your first dose or second?’ If you’re there for your second, you go in a different door. If you’re there for your first, you go in another door. They’ve got it down to where they’re separated, and then we just move through the line.”
Potter believes the city’s simplified process keeps vaccine distribution in the Panhandle moving smoothly.
The City of Amarillo says so far, it has administered more than 31,000 first doses and more than 12,000 second doses of the vaccine.
