Covid-19 Vaccine

The World has been waiting with bated breath for the Covid-19 Vaccine, alas a Christmas Miracle has been delivered! The first ever vaccine for the deadly virus was administered on 12/8/20 in the United Kingdom to Margaret Keenan. Ms. Keenan will be turning 91 years-young next week and was honored to receive this amazing gift.

So when can residents of Texas expect the vaccine to rollout, especially in Dallas, Tarrant and Harris Counties, the hardest hit in the state? The answer is before the end of December, no definitive date yet. The CDC and National Academics of Science recommend the vaccine be administered in the following order.

1. Healthcare Workers.
2. Residents in long term care facilities and First Responders.
3. Independent older Americans, Essential Workers and Teachers.
4. The Homeless and Prisoners – This population is considered a “super-spreader,” of the virus.
5. Teens and if approved, younger children – Also considered “super-spreader.”
6. Healthy Adults.

The NY Times created a tool to calculate when you can expect to receive your vaccine using your age, the County where you live, your profession, and whether you have Covid symptoms. I input my own personal information.

• 54 years.
• Collin County, Texas.
• NOT an essential worker, and work from home.
• No Covid symptoms.

My results:

• 268.7 million people are ahead of me in the US.
• 24.4 million in Texas.
• 713,800 in Collin County.

This news is not shocking, nor do I anticipate a vaccination for my group until late Spring or early Summer 2021. The great news is those at highest risk will be receiving vaccinations in short order as it should be!

The United States has seen more cases, deaths, and recoveries than any other country that we would want to believe is largely in part due to the size of our population. However, China and India have the largest population’s in the world and far smaller population effected.

China is also not reporting any new COVID-19 cases. The lesson I believe we need to take away from this is that the United States needed to be much more diligent in controlling the spread of the virus.