Beginning Monday, anyone who is a legal adult in Texas will become eligible to get registered for a COVID-19 vaccine through Austin Public Health. The Travis County vaccine hub had been limiting appointments to people in Phase 1A, 1B, and 1C, but this week that eligibility will grow to anyone age 18 or older. However, previous vaccination categories will remain the priority.
“We’re really pushing hard to make sure that those 65 and older, that there is specific, focused outreach to those populations so that we can ensure everyone across the community has those protections in place,” says Austin Public Health Assistant Director Cassandra De Leon.
Austin Public Health recently began incrementally expanding eligibility. Teachers and child care workers were included, followed last week by people age 40 and older.
“Looking at how our appointments are filling up, as well as the other providers that are receiving vaccine through Austin Public Health, we decided to make that change,” said Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden.
The State of Texas has authorized providers to vaccinate anyone age 16 or older, but use of the two-shot Moderna vaccine is the reason Austin’s Public Health’s cutoff age is 18. The Moderna jab has not been authorized by the FDA for ages 16 and 17.
Scheduling will open up on Monday evening. You can CLICK HERE to get yourself registered through Austin Public Health.
To date, almost 193,000 vaccines have been administered by the hub.
