BELTON, Texas — Bell County Health officials did not receive the expected second delivery of 3,900 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Sunday afternoon. The shipment is now expected to arrive Tuesday and the county is working to reschedule Tuesday vaccine appointments.
“We have been closely monitoring shipping and tracking details since Sunday,” Dr. Amanda Chadwell, Director of the Bell County Public Health District said. “And unfortunately, it appears our delivery did not leave the manufacturer until this afternoon.”
Given that the Pfizer vaccine requires extremely cold storage and longer thawing times, a Tuesday delivery means that appointments that day will not be feasible, according to the county.
“We began contacting everyone with a Tuesday appointment Monday afternoon to assure them that they will still be getting vaccinated soon but that it would be taking a little longer than anticipated,” Dr. Chadwell said.
All of Monday’s appointments had already been postponed to other days this week. The shift of Tuesday appointments, including some from Monday, means that some people will have to wait until next week.
Those with rescheduled appointments will be asked to visit their vaccination center any time during operating hours on the newly appointed day.
“This is obviously not how we hope to start our second week of vaccinations,” Bell County Judge David Blackburn said. “Since last Wednesday, we have already administered 3,981 shots. At this point, we are only limited by our supply of vaccines.”
Blackburn said that county health officials are already considering different strategies to ensure that operations would not be disrupted by future inconsistencies with vaccine deliveries. One operational change that is under consideration is to not operate the vaccine centers on Mondays. This, along with other logistical adjustments, could better ensure less disruption of scheduling going forward, according to the county.
“While we certainly regret this confusion and the inconvenience that it is going to cause people,” Judge Blackburn said. “We are pushing forward, and we remain focused and committed to vaccinating the people of Bell County and beyond.”
Updated appointment schedule:
- Monday, January 18 from 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. rescheduled to Wednesday, January 20
- Tuesday, January 19 from 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. rescheduled to Thursday, January 21
- Tuesday, January 19 from 11:00 to 12:45 p.m. rescheduled to Friday, January 22
- Tuesday, January 19 from 1:00 to 2:45 p.m. rescheduled to Saturday, January 23
- Tuesday, January 19 from 3:00 to 4:45 p.m. rescheduled to Sunday, January 24
- Tuesday, January 19 from 5:00 to 6:45 p.m. rescheduled to Tuesday, January 26
- Tuesday, January 19 from 7:00 to 8:45 p.m. rescheduled to Wednesday, January 27
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