BEAUMONT, Texas — Since the FDA approved the Moderna vaccine for emergency use Friday afternoon, now a second shot of hope is on the way Friday evening.
Shipments should start this weekend. Texas is set to receive 460,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which will start arriving next week.
Experts said this is a game changer for doctors and nurses who work in rural areas across the state since it does not have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures like the Pfizer vaccine. Now the Moderna vaccine had the green light.
Soon the Moderna vaccine will be available to healthcare workers outside their workplace at neighborhood pharmacies inside grocery stores like H-E-B. Many pharmacies signed up to be vaccination sites, but since not everyone can get the vaccine yet, the distribution process is not yet clear.
"In the rural areas like Jasper County, we're really looking forward to that," Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said. "We're looking at stores, that have pharmacies, like Brookshire Brothers."
Ten locations across Jasper County applied to receive vaccine shipments, he said.
Jefferson County is expected to receive 1,900 vaccines, Hardin and Jefferson County can expect 800 each, along with 100 for Newton County and 200 for Orange County, according to the Moderna allocation list from Texas DSHS.
Some of the locations listed include H-E-B, Brookshire Brothers and Market Basket pharmacies.
However, this first round of vaccinations is only for healthcare workers.
"We're asking our providers to use their best judgment in adhering to Phase 1A guidelines," DSHS spokesperson Douglas Loveday said.
It is unclear how pharmacies will make sure healthcare workers are receiving the vaccine first. As for moving onto the next phase of essential workers, that is also unclear.
"If we only have a hundred people wanting to take the vaccine who are healthcare workers, but we have police or firemen that want to take it, then we want to make it available to them," Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel said.
Most experts estimate the vaccine will not be available to the general public until the middle of 2021, but McDaniel said he is hopeful it will be sooner.
"I'm hoping that maybe as early as February, we can start providing vaccines to the general public," he said. "But again it's too early to tell until we know how many we're gonna have and how many people are interested in taking the vaccines."
Judge McDaniel said they should have a better idea of how the process is going to work once they receive the vaccines.