Austin Public Health Continues to Vaccinate All Adults

Published May 18, 2021 

Vaccine Approval

• The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have received an Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are authorized for people 18 years and older.
• The Pfizer vaccine has also received an Emergency Use Authorization and is authorized for people 12 years and older.
• The Astra Zeneca vaccine recently released phase 3 data from its U.S. clinical trials, and is expected to apply for Emergency Use Authorization in the coming weeks.

Vaccine Data

• APH released a COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Dashboard, which includes the total of APH and CommUnityCare-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.
• Texas DSHS also has a COVID-19 vaccination dashboard available, which shows data for all vaccines administered in Travis County and across the state.

Vaccine Providers

• APH is one of two local vaccine hubs, serving 18+ with Moderna. APH expanded online appointment scheduling (covid19.austintexas.gov) to be open from Friday at 7 p.m. through the following Friday at 7 a.m. The scheduling system then reopens that Friday evening at 7 p.m. with appointments for the next week.
• APH has also begun accepting some walk-ups without appointments for first doses at Delco, Southeast Library, and Little Walnut Creek Library. To find the dates and times for walk-up clinics visit AustinTexas.gov/COVID19-Vaccines or call 311 or 512-974-2000.
• Some local pharmacies receive direct allocations from the federal government and other local providers receive smaller allocations each week. A list of local providers can be found at vaccines.gov.

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.
• 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 more than 28 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.
• If you miss your appointment, you can walk-up after 28 days. Call 311 or 512-974-2000 for walk-up locations and times.

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.  

Safety & Effectiveness

• Safety is a top priority while federal partners work to make COVID-19 vaccines available. The new COVID-19 vaccines have been evaluated in tens of thousands of volunteers during clinical trials. The vaccines are only authorized for use if they are found to be safe. 
• The FDA and 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. 
• Immunity from the COVID-19 vaccine may last longer than the natural immunity you get if you’ve already had COVID-19. However, people who currently have COVID-19 should not be vaccinated while being sick.
• Different vaccines are proving to have different efficacy rates. All currently authorized vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe disease and death if you do contract the disease and range from 70-95% effective at preventing disease altogether.

Continued Precautions 

• Even with vaccines available in our community, people who are unvaccinated need to continue to take additional COVID-19 prevention measures including: wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing your hands often.
• The CDC has recently published guidance for those who are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people can:
  • Resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic, without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by the Health Authority Rules
  • Travel in the United States without getting tested before or after travel or self-quarantining after travel
  • Refrain from testing and quarantine if you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, unless you develop symptoms

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