TEXAS, USA — The Texas Department of State Health Services notified all vaccine providers that they should immediately include school and child care workers in vaccine administration Wednesday.
The agency got a letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directing states to expand eligibility to include people who work in child care and school operations. The letter describes people eligible as “those who work in pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools, as well as Head Start and Early Head Start programs (including teachers, staff, and bus drivers) and those who work as or for licensed child care providers, including center-based and family care providers.”
The action does not change the other groups eligible for the vaccine. Previously, only people who were in Tier 1A and 1B of the Texas Department of State Health Services guidelines could receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Below is description of each of those phases.
- Phase 1A of vaccine allocation prioritizes frontline health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.
- Phase 1B prioritizes people over the age of 65, and people with medical conditions that put them at a greater risk of severe disease or death from COVID-19.