Vaccs Facts is a weekly series of COVID-19 vaccine updates published by Austin Public Health. 

Austin Continues Vaccine Distribution for Phase 1B Individuals

Published March 2, 2021 

Vaccine Approval 

• The Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have received an Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Vaccine Data

• APH released a COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Dashboard, which includes the total of APH-administered doses organized by priority age group, zip code, race/ethnicity, and the estimated 2019 Travis County population with the percentage of those 65 years of age and older for context.
• As part of a statewide program to pilot regional COVID-19 vaccine hubs, Austin Public Health (APH) has received 12,000 first doses per week since Jan. 11 from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). 
• Since the launch of the pre-registration system on Jan. 13, more than 319,000 people have pre-registered, with more than 232,000 people meeting the Phase 1A or 1B eligibility criteria.

Vaccine Providers

• APH is one of two local vaccine hubs. The goal of these hubs is to provide more people the vaccine and a simpler way to sign up for an appointment, so they don’t have to call a long list of providers every week looking for vaccine. 
• Local pharmacies participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination have started to receive direct allocations from the federal government. Individuals who are interested in getting vaccinated at their local pharmacy should check the pharmacy’s website to find out if COVID-19 vaccine is available and if they are eligible for vaccination. 
• A handful of other local providers receive smaller allocations each week. APH does not oversee other providers and their individual distribution plans. However, APH is working across the healthcare system and the vaccine coalition to set guidelines that support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and DSHS framework for distribution. 
• The demand for vaccine in Phase 1A and 1B is exceeding the supply of many providers across the Austin area. 

Second Doses

• The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine only requires one shot, while Pfizer and Moderna require a series of two doses given three (Pfizer) or four (Moderna) weeks apart. Pfizer and Moderna vaccine recipients will get a vaccination card showing which vaccine and lot number they received and when they should return for a second dose.  
• APH currently receives the Moderna vaccine and is manually scheduling second doses by emailing, calling, or texting a date, time, and location.  
• If you received your first dose through Austin Public Health and it has been 42 or more days since your first dose and you have not received an appointment, you may walk-up to our vaccine sites and present your vaccine card to receive your second dose. This process will be temporary as we continue to work through the backlog of second dose appointments from the winter weather. 
• While the second dose should be administered as close to the recommended 21- or 28-day interval as possible, CDC recommends you should not get the second dose earlier than the recommended 3- or 4-week interval, and can get it up to 42 days or 6 weeks later. 
• If you are unable to get your second dose in the recommended timeframe, you do not have to start over. While missing the suggested interval delays full protection, you can still get the second dose later if you have difficulty getting it within the recommended time. You will get full protection from the vaccine 1–2 weeks after getting your second dose. 
• Studies of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines indicate that immunity following the first dose is approximately 50% at one week following the vaccine. It is important to note that in the Moderna trial, individuals who only received one dose were followed for an average of 28 days after the first dose. The vaccine efficacy for the single dose when evaluated >14 days after the first dose was 92.1%. While this arm of the study was not randomized, it does support ongoing improvements in the effectiveness of the vaccine following a single dose and suggests safety in delaying the second dose as indicated by the CDC. 

Side Effects

• The FDA released fact sheets on the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna vaccine, and Johnson & Johnson vaccine for recipients and caregivers that includes information on vaccine ingredients and side effects. 
• While the COVID-19 vaccine may cause side effects such as fatigue, headache, fever, chills, nausea, muscle pain, and joint pain, these side effects show that the vaccine is working.  
• Vaccine recipients should be monitored for at least 15 minutes for a more serious allergic reaction. People who have a history of allergic reactions should be monitored for 30 minutes.  
• The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will continue to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines to make sure even very rare side effects are identified. V-SAFE is a new smartphone-based, after-vaccination health checker for people who receive COVID-19 vaccines.  
• COVID-19 vaccines do not use the live virus and cannot give you COVID-19. The vaccine does not alter your DNA. COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an immune response without having to experience sickness. 

Continued Precautions 

• Even with limited vaccines available in our community, people need to continue to take additional COVID-19 prevention measures including: wearing a mask, social distancing, washing your hands often, covering coughs and sneezes, cleaning frequently touched surfaces, and staying home if you’re sick.  
• The CDC recommends that the vaccine be offered to people regardless of whether they have a history of COVID-19 infection.  
• It is not yet clear from the vaccine trials whether individuals who receive the vaccine can still transmit COVID-19 to others. It is therefore very important that even those vaccinated take the same precautions as before to ensure that they do not inadvertently spread the virus as a carrier.  
• Updated quarantine guidance from CDC doesn’t require people who are fully vaccinated and without symptoms to quarantine if they have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. 

For additional COVID-19 vaccine information, visit www.AustinTexas.gov/COVID19-Vaccines.