Thursday, January 14, 2021; 5 p.m.

VACCINE NEWS
Texas First State to Administer 1 Million COVID-19 Vaccines
Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) today announced that that State of Texas has administered more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine—making Texas the national leader in vaccinations. This milestone comes exactly one month to the day after the first doses arrived at vaccine providers in the state on Dec. 14, 2020. Read the full press release.
 
Vaccine Distribution
Currently, vaccines are being distributed through the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) directly to individual providers such as hospitals, pharmacies, physicians’ offices and clinics. At this time, Montgomery County Public Health District (MCPHD) is not involved in mass distribution of the vaccine to the public.
 
Vaccines are currently available only to certain populations, including healthcare workers, long-term care residents, those over the age of 65 and those with certain health conditions. The best course of action for the general public at this time is to keep up with the state’s timeline for availability.
 
A map shows where provider locations are available in your area. Once you have determined that you are eligible for a vaccine and found a provider on the link above, contact the preferred provider to confirm the vaccine’s availability and make an appointment if necessary. Read the complete release from MCPHD.

COVID-19 Texas Vaccination Data Dashboard
A dashboard is available through the Texas Department of State Health Services showing COVID-19 vaccination data in Texas. The dashboard has many aspects of important information in sum and by county for variables including vaccine distribution, type of organizations receiving the distributions, doses administered and people vaccinated. View the dashboard.
 
Additional CDC Vaccine Information
Because the supply of COVID-19 vaccine in the United States is limited at first, initial supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine are allocated to healthcare personnel and long-term care facility residents. Read the following CDC articles for more information. 8 Things to Know About the U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Program, When Vaccine is Limited, Who Gets Vaccinated First?, Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination.
 
Beware of Scams Related to the Vaccine
Read the full article for what you need to know to avoid a vaccine-related scam. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a new website, ReportFraud.ftc.gov, where consumers can easily report fraud and all other consumer issues directly to the FTC.

HOSPITAL NEWS
Local Hospitalization Threshold
Trauma Service Area Q, which includes Harris and Montgomery counties, has experienced more than seven (7) consecutive days above the 15 percent COVID hospitalization threshold indicated in Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-32. As a result, the Texas Department of State Health Services has listed Trauma Service Area Q as a high hospitalization area which puts in place occupancy restriction rollbacks included in GA-32. According to GA-32, bars in these counties may not operate, and restaurants and other non-essential businesses are restricted to an indoor occupancy limit of 50 percent. In addition, certain elective surgeries are prohibited.
 
The trauma area must have seven consecutive days below the 15 percent threshold to return to the 75 percent occupancy limits, for bars to be able to operate and for certain elective surgeries to resume. Read GA-32 in full, originally issued in October 2020 in response to COVID-19.

COUNTY NEWS

• Avoid groups of people.
• Practice social distancing.
• Wear a mask in public (over your nose and mouth) or with others who live outside your household. Never share a mask with others.
• Teach children proper hygiene and the correct way to wear a mask.
• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer frequently.
• Disinfect surfaces in your car and around your home.

• TOTAL cases of COVID-19 increased by 370 to 32,575 since yesterday’s (1/13) report. All new cases were tested since 12/31/2020.
• ACTIVE cases of COVID-19 increased by 152 to 10,774 since yesterday’s (1/13) report.
• 79 county residents are known, as a result of contact investigations, to be in the hospital. Contact investigations have not been initiated on all reported cases.
• 16,022 people have clinically recovered.

The Testing Positivity Rate for Montgomery County is 22%. This number is updated weekly on Wednesdays. Source: UT Health, School of Public Health.

You can view the case-by-case updates on the MCPHD website. You can also refer to the dashboard.

Do you have questions regarding COVID-19, COVID-19 testing or vaccines? The Montgomery County COVID-19 Call Center’s number is 936-523-3916. It is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Harris County COVID-19 Case Count
Harris County Public Health (HCPH) publishes their daily case count, combined with the City of Houston's daily case count, here. Cases by zip code in Harris County can be found by clicking on areas of the map.
 
The Village of Creekside Park is located in two zip codes: 77375 and 77389, and these also include Magnolia, Augusta Pines/Auburn Lakes/West Rayford Road in northwest Harris County. Today, Harris County is reporting zip code 77375 has 2,970 confirmed positive cases with 709 active cases, and 77389 has 1,652 confirmed positive cases with 376 active cases. 

RESOURCES

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The Woodlands Township publishes this update to inform residents and businesses regarding COVID-19 and its impact on The Woodlands Township. Please sign up for Township news and notifications at www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov/notifyme. This newsletter is published every Tuesday and Thursday, or as needed.