Texas State University COVID-19 Vaccine Update

Emilio Carranco, M.D., M.S., Chief Medical Officer | March 4, 2021

Faculty, Staff and Students:

I am pleased to inform you that Texas State University has received COVID-19 vaccine including 300 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine allocated by the Texas State Department of Health Services (DSHS) and 500 doses of Pfizer vaccine provided by Hays County as part of a new collaboration between the university and county.

Texas State will hold a vaccination event in the LBJ Student Center Grand Ballroom on the San Marcos Campus on Friday, March 12th.  Faculty, staff and students who are eligible for vaccination based on the DSHS vaccine priority guidelines will be contacted by e-mail and provided with a vaccination registration link.  As of March 9, 2021, the DSHS vaccine priority groups include:

  • Phase 1A:  Health care workers and support staff, EMS providers, pharmacy staff, public health and emergency response staff involved in COVID-19 testing or vaccination, and mortuary or death service providers.
  • Phase 1B:  People 65 years of age and older, people 16 and older with a chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19, and teachers, school staff and childcare workers.

Because vaccine supply is limited, decisions about which groups to prioritize within Phase 1A and 1B will be based on risk of direct exposure to COVID-19, risk of serious illness and death with increasing age, and the national priority to reopen schools.  Based on these considerations, vaccinations at Texas State will be provided in this order of priority:

  1. Healthcare:  Student Health Center staff, athletic trainers, health professions faculty, staff and students in direct patient care 
  2. Emergency responders:  University Police Department staff
  3. Staff involved in providing vaccinations 
  4. Death service providers:  Forensic Anthropology Center faculty, staff and students
  5. Childcare providers:  Child Development Center faculty, staff and student assistants
  6. Faculty, staff and students 65 years of age and older 
  7. Faculty, staff and students who work in preK-12 
  8. Faculty, staff and students with chronic medical conditions who are 50 and older
  9. Faculty, staff, and students with chronic medical conditions who are 40 and older
  10. Faculty, staff and students with chronic medical conditions who are 16 and older 

Vaccination Process

Faculty, staff and students who receive a vaccination registration e-mail will use the link provided to select either the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a vaccination appointment time on March 12th.  When the available vaccine and time slots have been filled, no further registrations will be accepted.  Eligible faculty, staff and students who are not able to schedule a vaccination will have an opportunity to register at the next vaccination event.

Future Vaccination Events

As Texas State receives additional vaccine, the Student Health Center will send vaccination registration e-mails to eligible persons and continue working through the DSHS vaccination priority groups.  The amount of vaccine available each week will determine how many persons receive a vaccine registration e-mail.  We anticipate weekly vaccination events, including some events on the Round Rock campus.  I encourage you to visit the Student Health Center COVID-19 Vaccination webpage for the latest information on the university’s vaccine distribution and future vaccination events.

Texas State is partnering with Hays County to vaccinate county residents.  A portion of the vaccine provided by the county will be administered to county residents at vaccination events on the San Marcos Campus.

As the vaccine supply improves, we anticipate larger and more frequent vaccination events on the San Marcos and Round Rock campuses.  I want to thank the Mass Vaccination Planning Work Group which has been working since October 2020 to prepare the university for vaccinations.  I strongly encourage everyone to vaccinate when it is your turn.  All of the authorized vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective.  Vaccination will help us bring this pandemic to an end.

 

Sincerely,

Emilio Carranco, M.D., M.S.
Chief Medical Officer
Director, Student Health Center