Immunize El Paso moves for quicker virus vaccine distribution following ABC-7 report on delays
EL PASO, Texas -- A non-profit El Paso clinic facing questions after it received thousands of Covid-19 vaccines, but failed to heed to the state's call to administer those doses right away, announced Sunday it had teamed up with the El Paso Department of Public Health on quicker distribution efforts.
ABC-7 reported last week that Immunize El Paso was the recipient of a significant shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, but the clinic intended to leave it sitting in a freezer for two weeks while it worked to come up with a "well-thought-out process" for giving out the shots.
"Immunize El Paso received 2,000 vaccine doses from the State of Texas in late December and has transferred 1,100 doses to DPH for faster administration of the vaccine," health department spokeswoman Soraya Ayub Palacios said in a statement Sunday.
She indicated a mass-vaccination effort would take place later Sunday at one of the city's existing Covid-19 testing sites, but it was not open to the public. Rather, the shots would be dispensed to those over age 65 or others of all ages with chronic medical conditions who had already registered and received appointments through the health department.
Immunize El Paso said it would administer the remaining 900 vaccines this week to clients of their clinics who were scheduled to receive it.
Health officials indicated there were currently 30 local healthcare providers working to dispense the vaccine and about 200 others are on a waiting list to receive shipments from the state when more doses are allocated.
The El Paso health department said it was continuing to accept vaccine registrations from persons in at-risk groups, which can be submitted online by clicking here. State health leaders also have compiled an online database showing those entities in the El Paso area that have received vaccine supplies, although not all may be offering shots to the public.
