In Texas, 450 new COVID deaths are seen as state tolls approach 33,000.National

Austin, Texas (AP) — Texas health officials reported 450 new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday due to a rapid increase in deaths following a recent surge in hospitalizations.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has advertised that he will expand his vaccination efforts, but state health officials say the hospital is struggling with rising deaths (2,200 in the last seven days) and a large number of seriously ill patients. Warned social media.

“Texas needs to avoid additional spikes in some cases. Hospitals can’t do more. Deaths are still on the rise,” said the State Health Service Department. Tweet with official account..

In Texas, a peak of just under 11,000 hospitalizations was seen during the peak of the virus in the summer of July. After falling to about 3,200 in September, the state suffered a winter surge in hospitals with new cases, patients and deaths. Texas recorded a record high of 14,218 inpatient COVID patients on January 12, and has exceeded 13,700 since then.

Republican Abbott said Texas would not experience another blockade. Instead, he focused on vaccination efforts as the state shifted most of its doses from small healthcare providers to large hubs that could serve thousands of patients a day. ..

The state is vaccinated by doctors and nurses who are in close contact with COVID-19 patients, other healthcare professionals, Texas people over the age of 65, or people in key health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease. Is made available.

Texas officials report that about 1.2 million people have been vaccinated for the first time and about 185,000 have been fully vaccinated. Abbott urged the federal government to send more doses as soon as possible.

Dallas County Commissioner said Tuesday, after early data showed that Fair Park’s mass vaccination site was aimed at people in wealthy white areas, mainly in black and Latin areas. We have decided that the inhabitants should be prioritized.

The site focused on vaccination of residents over the age of 75. Commissioners vaccinate people who meet the broader state standards only if they live in any of the 11 zip codes that have long-standing health inequality, or if the population is likely to be infected with the virus. Decided to focus on doing.

But at an emergency meeting on Wednesday, commissioners voted 4-1 to revoke their decision after arousing the anger of state health officials. The Texas Department of Health said in a letter that the change could have reduced the number of vaccines that Dallas County received and could no longer be considered a hub provider.

“We ask hub providers to ensure that vaccines reach the most affected areas and populations, but simply vaccination of people in those areas is not in line with the agreement to become a hub provider. “Imerda Garcia, Vice-Chairman of Texas, wrote. State Health Service Department.

The county’s director of health, Dr. Philip Juan, initially defended the committee’s decision to vaccinate only people over the age of 75. He also said that the zip code that the commissioner decided to focus on this week has already been oversampled by the county in the latest invitation.

“I want to vaccinate everyone, but we have to make some decisions,” Huang told the commissioner. “And we want to make the biggest impact.”

Judge Clay Jenkins of Dallas County abstained from voting on Tuesday and said he was concerned that the order would block access to the vaccine to vulnerable people who do not live in these zip codes. It was.

“It should be our goal now to reach those who are most likely to enter the ICU,” Jenkins said.

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