Jasiah and Jayven Garcia, ages 11 and 6, get their COVID vaccines along with Jesus Ramirez, age 9, at the Medina County Health Unit. See article for upcoming vaccine clinics.
Medina County’s active COVID-19 case count for 11/29/21 is 14 with one additional death to report from last week. A new COVID-19 variant called Omicron has been in the news lately and raises concerns about our protection with the current COVID-19 vaccines. There are still many questions to be answered about this variant and how our current vaccines will work against it. I recommend getting your COVID-19 booster if you haven’t yet. This is still our best protection and our chance to build up our immune system. Also, the holiday season brings more opportunities for exposure than we would normally have. If you haven’t gotten a COVID-19 vaccine yet, this is the perfect time to do so and it’s still free to everyone and easily available. For booster doses, everyone 18 years of age and older are eligible. If you received Moderna or Pfizer vaccine you can get a booster 6 months after your last dose in the series. If you received Johnson and Johnson, you can get a booster 2 months after your first dose. So, get your booster dose if it is time for you. We have COVID-19 vaccine available for anyone ages 5 and up.
A reminder if you are homebound and would like the COVID-19 vaccine, give us a call and we can make a home visit. You can register for any COVID-19 vaccine at vaccine.medinatx.org for clinic locations at our Hondo office and the Devine WIC and Castroville WIC locations. This week we are in Castroville and Devine on Thursday. Check the online registration for time slots or call us to schedule.
Also, if you haven’t gotten your flu shot, there is plenty of time to do so. Medina County Health Unit has doses of flu vaccine at no cost for uninsured adults. Call our office at 830-741-6191 if you qualify for a flu dose. We always have Texas Vaccine for Children (TVFC) including flu shots for children who qualify.
We will have a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at D’Hanis ISD in the cafeteria this Friday, Dec 3rd from 3:30 pm-5:30 pm. Online registration is open to school staff, their families as well as community members. You can register at vaccine.medinatx.org for a first-time dose or booster, ages 5 and up welcome. COVID-19 vaccine is free and bring your card if you are wanting a booster dose.
VACCINE DATA UPDATE (estimated) since 11/22/2021
People that are fully vaccinated age 5 and older:
Medina County 53.20% up from 53.05%
Texas 58.73% up from 58.59%
Additional Medina County data:
People 5 years of age and older: 48,707
People 5 years of age and older who have been fully vaccinated: 25,911
CASE DATA UPDATE (estimated) since 11/22/2021
Confirmed Cases: 4,842
Probable Cases: 2163
Fatalities: 168 up from 167
Active Cases: 14 down from 33
Recovered: 6,856
Additional Texas COVID-19 Data: https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/AdditionalData.aspx
COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Children age 5 through 11 Years Old: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/planning/children.html
By Trish Mechler
Medina County Health Unit