by Fred Cantu
Texas Governor Greg Abbott often speaks of our seniors, especially
those in long-term care facilities, as our most vulnerable Texans. So,
it was no surprise he would be upset with the low numbers he's seeing
for their COVID-19 vaccination rate.
He shared these numbers in Houston on Tuesday:
“Texas has provided 487,500 doses for nursing homes and long-term care centers. CVS and Walgreens are in charge of administering those doses. They have administered 124,827 of those doses to those who reside in nursing homes or long-term care centers.” He then added, “We, as a state, continue to insist that Walgreens and CVS pick up their pace because while Texas is now administering 78% of vaccines, Walgreens and CVS are only at 26% of their vaccine administrations.”
The math is right, but the participating pharmacies question the metrics he's using to measure their success. CVS tells us the feds allotted them more vaccine than they needed for the job. In a written statement, CVS explains, “The federal government determines weekly vaccine allotments based on facility bed count,” but what they discovered in the real world was, “occupancy is far less than bed count and staff uptake has been lower than expected."
Both CVS and Walgreens issued statements earlier this month saying they believe they'll meet the deadline the feds set for them. That means they expect to have given every patient in every Texas long-term care facility at least their first dose of the COVID vaccine by January 25.
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