Karen Gleason
Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. says he has some concerns about how the COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed here, but he said his first priority is getting more doses of the vaccine into Val Verde County.
About 1,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 have been delivered in Del Rio, and Owens told The 830 Times Friday he is in ongoing conversations with state elected officials to get more doses and to get them as quickly as possible.
“Texas Rep. Eddie Morales texted me earlier today (Friday) and asked me what we need, and I said, ‘Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine.’ It’s pretty simple. There’s nothing on the page right now except the vaccine,” Owens said.
The county judge said his concerns are fueled by the ever-growing number of COVID-19 cases in Del Rio.
“We’re experiencing, right now, more cases than we did during the first surge back in July. . . and we know it’s going to get worse because of Christmas and New Year’s. Our numbers are going to get worse,” Owens said.
Val Verde Regional Medical Center has received 1,000 doses of the COVID vaccine.
Owens said his biggest concern is getting the vaccines to “the individuals who are going to take care of us: nurses, doctors, EMS, the police and fire departments.”
“The fact of the matter is that there is not enough vaccine coming into our county. When you ask me how much vaccine do we need, I’m going to tell you that I have 50,000 people I need to get vaccinated. Probably 80% of those are going to want the vaccine, so I need 40,000 to begin with, and then I’ll need another 40,000 in 28 days,” the judge said.
“It’s really that simple, but all of us are crying for the same thing,” he added.
Owens said Val Verde County has applied with the state to become a distributor for the vaccine, although he said he had hoped that the hospital would step into the role of being the area’s primary vaccine distribution facility.
Owens said while most of the those involved in the battle against COVID believed the hospital would serve as the area’s main vaccine distributor, he said he learned on Jan. 4 that the hospital would not be serving in that capacity.
“It’s like all the pieces of the puzzle were working, and you’re almost done with the puzzle and now, someone took some of the pieces,” he said.
“I did not want to be in the provider business. I didn’t want to do it, but we have been forced into it, and the city and the county will be partnering on that effort,” Owens added.
Val Verde County’s high rates of COVID infection, the judge said, simply prove the vaccine is needed here.
“When we got the recognition we did not want, of being the number one city and county in the state of Texas with the most positive COVID cases in growth per capita over the previous seven days, that only goes to prove that we really need the vaccine,” Owens said.
Owens said in discussions with the rest of the COVID task force members, the Del Rio Civic Center was picked as the best site in which to distribute the vaccine on a large scale.
