Health Clinic to receive Moderna Covid-19 vaccine
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Commissioners’ Court
By Dakota McDonald
With Garza County Health Clinic recently approved as a Covid-19 Pandemic Provider, Garza County Health Care District Administrator Brandi Fannon announced that the Garza County Health Clinic will begin administering the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine once the vaccine is allocated by the state at the Jan. 11 commissioners’ court meeting.
Originally applying on Nov. 25 to become a Covid-19 Pandemic Provider, the state approved the clinic on Jan. 5. However, there is no scheduled date as to when the clinic will receive the vaccine, Fannon said.
“We don’t have an approximate date,” Fannon said. “We are at the mercy of the state.”
With no plans to administer the vaccine outside of the clinic due to the 15-to-20-minute observation period, the clinic plans to begin booking appointments upon allocation of the vaccine.
Currently, first responders, frontline workers, individuals 65 and older and individuals with chronic conditions such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, solid organ transplant, severe obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes, can call the clinic at 806-495-2835 and ask to be put on the Covid-19 vaccine list.
“The CDC states that those over 65 or those with an underlying chronic condition need to get the vaccine first along with frontline workers and first responders,” Fannon said. “This is very important because the frontline workers and first responders can be exposed Covid-19 at any given time when responding to calls or seeing patients. Those over 65 and those that have underlying conditions are at a higher risk of not recovering from Covid-19 should they contract it.”
Due to the vaccine being provided free of charge to the clinic, patients will not see a cost for the actual vaccine itself. However, administration charges, which will be billed to the patient’s insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, will be charged at $30 for the first dose and $50 for the second. Uninsured patients will not be charged or turned away, Fannon said.
“It’s very important for everyone to get the vaccine to help stop or at least slow down the spread of this virus,” Fannon said.
Inoculations will be administered 25 people at a time.
Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Isbell updated the court on the tech grant that he recently finished which will be used to purchase portable police radios for patrol officers, the fire department and EMS personnel as the ones currently in use are outdated. The grant in the amount of $50,000 will allow for the purchase of nine radios. Currently, the county is in need of 20 radios.
The commissioners also extended the prohibition of outdoor burning for 90 days. In the order, any combustible material may not be burned outside of an enclosure which serves to contain all flames and sparks. Should an individual violate the prohibition, a fine up to $500 may be issued. The ban is scheduled to end April 11.
The next regular meeting is set for Jan. 25 at 9 a.m.
