![]() And we understand the frustration, and we understand the perception. “We are trying so very hard to make sure that the right folks get at the right time. “There's no good answer,” Stratton added. Line-jumping is “an unfortunate reality for many providers” but “overall, we are trying to achieve herd immunity and a shot in an arm is good for the entire community,” the spokesperson said. Some 167,000 people have gotten at least one dose at Travis County locations, according to state health officials. In Austin, more than half a million people meet the eligibility requirements, and about 200,000 are pre-registered through the Austin Public Health system and still waiting, an APH spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Older people, who comprise about 13% of Texas’ population, are the most likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus. Half of all Texans age 65 and older have received at least one dose, which accounts for nearly 2 million people and almost half of all doses administered in Texas, according to DSHS numbers. Social media is rife with personal stories of people either getting the shot out of turn or angrily complaining about seemingly ineligible people getting vaccines while prioritized people sit on waiting lists. Reports of people crossing state and county lines to get vaccinated triggered clamp-downs in Florida. States like New York are struggling to vaccinate people of color while white residents line up at vaccination hubs aimed at communities of color. The state also does not keep track of how many people are on waiting lists for the vaccine, because Texas has more than 7,300 of vaccine providers, each has a different system and some people are on several waiting lists simultaneously. Quantifying the incidents and impact of line jumpers is impossible, officials say. “The ethical thing to do is to wait until it's your turn, even though I do know that it's frustrating for a lot of folks,” said Allison Winnike, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, a statewide nonprofit focused on eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases. ![]() And from backlash over an older Texas state senator getting his vaccine before his age group became eligible to reports of young, seemingly healthy college students lining up to get shots on campus with little more than a student ID, anecdotal evidence shows that not everyone follows it. ![]() The result is that providers are largely operating on the honor system. Many qualifying conditions, such as diabetes or sickle cell disease, aren’t easily confirmed without them. While many providers say they believe, based on anecdotal evidence and state data, that most people who are getting the vaccine are eligible, they acknowledge that it’s difficult to confirm eligibility and enforce requirements beyond a person’s age when there are no medical records to check.
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