(Seguin) — Guadalupe County officials are providing its latest update on its vaccination efforts for COVID-19.
County Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Pinder as the spread of COVID continues here locally, so do hospitalizations at GRMC. Pinder says the hospital continues to care for a large number of COVID-19 patients — many of them critically ill.
Pinder says the county continues work with the National Guard to try to get more people vaccinated. The overall vaccination rate in Guadalupe County has increased slightly in recent weeks.
“We have 53.55 percent of the population who have been fully vaccinated in Guadalupe County. That number has come up a little bit over the past few weeks. That is in part by all the doctors’ offices, Med Clinics, everybody doing those shot clinics and also the county getting the National Guard in here to start having some clinics,” said Pinder.
GRMC officials have been encouraging more people to get vaccinated, with doctors reminding the community that the vaccines are safe and effective. Pinder says there has been light attendance for most of their vaccine clinics. The one exception is the Saturday clinics that have been held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Seguin. Pinder says OLG has drawn sizeable crowds to each of its vaccine clinics.
“The busiest clinic and the one that we have seen the most success out of is the one at Our Lady of Guadalupe. This last one we did 120. I think it was second dose, first dose and then two weeks ago, it was 133….”
So, we have seen quite few people come through that church clinic. I don’t know if it’s because it’s easy access, if it’s the church community advertising that but we’ve had a lot of success out of that one,” said Pinder.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher thanked Pinder and others for continuing to provide more opportunities for people to get vaccinated.
He says it’s important that the free clinics continue to be available.
“Thank you for the additional efforts in making sure the vaccines are available. We know they are readily available throughout the community but having the National Guard and others and setting up these clinics and coordinating with the cities and non-profits and the church groups really do help just show the importance of them but also create that additional layer of accessibility which I think is a good positive,” said Kutscher.
The push has been to get more unvaccinated people vaccinated, but Pinder says there’s also going to be a growing number of already vaccinated people who will soon start looking for booster shots. Pinder says they are not offering those services yet, but people need to get with their doctor to make sure they know if and when they should get that booster dose.
“Currently, Guadalupe County is not doing any booster shots. If you have one of those autoimmune disorders, consult with your doctor before you get that shot. Some clinics in San Antonio are offering those so if you meet those qualifications for that booster, go ahead and contact your doctor about it. At this point, we are not offering any mass booster shots like we were before. If you want to check with your doctor and then go to one of those clinics that are provided by the National Guard in Guadalupe County, you obviously can do that. We are starting to do Pfizer and Moderna clinics, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is not as readily available,” said Pinder.
Pinder says more vaccination clinic dates will soon be announced by the county. Meanwhile, vaccinations are routinely available at doctors’ offices and pharmacies here in the Seguin area. The shots are given free of charge.