As COVID-19 infections rise locally and nationally, Dallas County health officials say recent federal policy changes could impact availability and accessibility of the vaccine.
The Food and Drug Administration recently recommended limits on who is eligible for the updated shot. The restrictions mean someone must be at risk for serious complications because they are over the age of 65 or have other health issues. While the FDA revoked the emergency use authorizations granted to manufacturers in 2020, the vaccines still have full FDA authorization.
“It’s uncertain what's going to happen in terms of the requirements or restrictions on what we're provided from the State and federal for like vaccines for children, things like that,” Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang told county commissioners Tuesday. “There's a lot of confusion regarding what some of the latest activity with [the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].”
Dallas County Health and Human Services expects to receive shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state in the next few weeks.
“We have our order in,” Huang said. “We're anticipating we'll get the shipments in the next few weeks, similar with also some of our flu shots.”
The CDC expects to weigh in with its recommendations on who should receive the vaccine. However, the agency has already dropped some guidelines outlining routine vaccinations for healthy children and pregnant people.
Huang said where those federal decisions will land is still unknown — but changes could affect what the county is allowed to distribute and if insurance plans will be required to cover the cost.
As of now, the county still plans to distribute vaccinations.
“We're still planning on doing dissemination,” Huang said. “We're going to do some targeted events with the senior centers. We're using some of our new communication channels to try to reach our more vulnerable populations.”
The county has a series of vaccine clinics planned, and vaccines will be available at DCHHS locations once the county is able to make them available.
Abigail Ruhman is KERA’s health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at aruhman@kera.org.
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