Cities and states begin delaying Covid-19 vaccine distribution because of winter storms
The severe winter weather sparked emergency declarations in at least seven states, including Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.
Here are the localities and states that have delayed or postponed vaccine distribution so far:
This is the second straight day San Antonio has postponed vaccinations at the venue. Over the weekend, the city made the decision to move Monday’s appointments to Friday.
“With the current icy conditions expected to remain until at least tomorrow, we want to ensure the safety of the public. We also want to remind the public who may be concerned about the small delay for their second dose, that we are still within CDC guidelines to ensure the vaccine will still work with no issues,” the release stated.
Corpus Christi
Both agencies received the word from the state Monday.
The soonest a new shipment may come will be Wednesday, according to the news release.
Harris County
The winter storm cut power to the Harris County Public Health Department building around 2 a.m . Monday morning and the backup generator also failed, putting over 8,400 coronavirus vaccines in jeopardy of spoiling, Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo said Monday afternoon.
Officials quickly put a plan together to allocate and salvage the vaccines, Hidalgo said.
Harris County officials settled on Houston’s Ben Taub, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Methodist Hospitals, as well as Rice University and the Harris County Jail as the locations to receive the vaccine overnight, Hidalgo said.
Nevada
The state received word the disruption could occur and it is working with the health districts and pharmacies that may be affected.
“We ask Nevadans to continue to be patient at this time,” the tweet read.
Missouri
“Missouri is experiencing severe winter weather that makes driving dangerous and threatens the health and safety of anyone exposed to the cold. These conditions will also likely delay some vaccine shipments,” Parson said. “We want to protect the safety of everyone involved in the mass vaccination events, from the patients being vaccinated to the volunteers who generously support these events.”
To protect doses, arriving vaccine shipments for this week’s mass vaccinations events will stay in the nine Missouri State Highway Patrol regions across the state and be redistributed to community hospitals with emergency generators.
Those hospitals will be allowed to administer the vaccine to those currently eligible, according to the release. Second doses that were scheduled to be administered during the mass vaccination program will be retained in the region and administered “as promptly as possible.”
CNN’s Keith Allen, Dave Alsup, Amanda Jackson, Jennifer Selva and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.