The Travis County Vaccine Collaborative distributed nearly half a million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to communities most in need
(Travis County, TX) – After operating free drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine clinics and mobile vaccine teams for nearly two years, the Travis County COVID-19 Vaccine Collaborative will close its clinics after December 31, 2022.
The Collaborative’s efforts to distribute vaccines in the most affected ZIP codes began in February 2021 with a mass drive-thru clinic at the Circuit of the Americas when Travis County partnered with Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Hays County, Ascension Seton, and CommUnityCare Health Centers.
The efforts then evolved to hosting weekend drive-thru clinics at the Travis County Exposition Center and deploying strike teams to mobile clinics at places like schools, churches, grocery stores, and community centers, so people can access COVID-19 vaccines for free, without insurance, at locations and time most convenient to them.
Since February 2021, Ascension Seton, in partnership with the Collaborative, distributed over 430,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. This includes 137,304 doses Travis County distributed utilizing the following healthcare provider partners to administer the shots:
- CommUnityCare: 73,839 doses
- Travis County Emergency Service District 11: 32,936 doses
- Ascension Seton: 24,518 doses
- Central Texas Allied Health Institute: 6,011 doses
Of the approximately 24,000 doses administered by Travis County through Ascension, 71 percent of the vaccine recipients self-identified as Hispanic or Latino, 44 percent said their primary language was Spanish, and 41 percent were receiving their 1st or 2nd doses.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the work that went into delivering hundreds of thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Travis County neighborhoods that had higher rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths,” said Travis County Judge Andy Brown. “Vaccines have been a life-saving tool in this pandemic, and thanks to all of our community partners, we were able to increase Travis County’s vaccination rates especially among the most vulnerable.”
After December 31, 2022, Travis County residents can get COVID-19 vaccines at physicians’ offices, pharmacies, Austin Public Health clinics, and other health care facilities. They can also find vaccine providers on Vaccines.gov (Vacunas.gov in Spanish).
Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines, including getting your booster shot, remains the most effective and safe way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to illnesses caused by the COVID-19 virus.
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