WACO, TX — Christmas is coming early for McLennan County healthcare workers. Many are hoping that the vaccines are the first step to ending the pandemic.
For weeks, COVID-19 cases have soared in Central Texas.
“Our hospitalizations continue to stay in the range of 100 on an average day, which is very high. We’ve seen here, in the middle of December, 28 deaths. We’re not even finished with the month yet,” said Kelly Craine with Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.
However, hope is on the horizon. The newly approved Pfizer vaccine is set to McLennan County hospitals Providence Ascension and Baylor Scott & White this week.
“All we’ve been able to do right now is be reactive to the virus and protect ourselves. Now we can get proactive and get the vaccinations and keep ourselves from being infected,” said Craine.
Craine says the vaccine was shipped out on Sunday.
She says the vaccine gives a lot of healthcare workers hope, but they’re still social distancing and using other safety measures to protect themselves from the virus.
“We still have to follow wearing the mask and social distancing and limiting our gatherings. Those are still important tools that got us to survive till this point,” Craine said.
She says it'll take several months until the vaccines are available for everyone in the community. Officials are also hoping that the Moderna vaccine gets approved later this week, another way to protect health workers
