BONHAM — Tuesday was the final day the Fannin County Covid Vaccine Call Center took registration calls.
The call center will continuing operating through Friday, County Judge Randy Moore said, although its focus is shifted to provide callers information on how they can register for a vaccine elsewhere.
Set up in mid-January, Fannin County was the first in the region to establish a central location for any Texan to call to register for a Covid-19 vaccine. The call center initially had one paid position working 40 hours a week, but officials quickly realized they needed more people manning the phones after more than 4,000 calls came in during the first week of operation. Commissioners ultimately approved four paid positions to handle inbound and outbound calls with salaries coming from the county’s contingency fund.
“It was a difficult decision for the Commissioners’ Court to end the Vaccine Call Center. Schedulers had to make eight to 10 calls to schedule one person. Many have received their vaccine elsewhere causing a significant delay for citizens,” County Judge Randy Moore said in a news release. “Everyone that is currently on the Fannin County Covid Vaccine waiting list will be scheduled through our scheduling center until the list has been exhausted.”
Texoma Medical Center in Bonham is Fannin County’s vaccine hub. The hospital has been working with providers in the county to distribute vaccines, and more vaccine providers have come on board. They’ve created links and emails for easier registration, Moore said. As the Texas Department of State Health Services opens vaccine eligibility to all Texans age 16 and older next week, anyone seeking to register for a vaccine is encouraged to contact a local provider. In Fannin County, that includes:
• Puckett Family Clinic: pfccovidvaccine.com
• Fannin Pharmacy: 903-583-8017
• Brookshire’s: brookshires.com/covid-19-information
• Leonard Pharmacy: leonardpharmacy.com/coronavirus.
While calls to the Vaccine Call Center continued to trickle in last week, staffers have been having “extreme difficulties” reaching callers to schedule them, said Troy Hudson, Fannin County Emergency Management coordinator.
“Sometimes in a day, we barely get 100 people scheduled,” Hudson told commissioners Tuesday morning.
The call center was originally set to end operations March 10, but that closing was pushed back a week because Winter Storm Uri in mid-February shut down the operation for a week. Last week, commissioners opted to extend its operations until at least Tuesday.
While there is no accurate data to show how many Fannin County residents have received a Covid-19 vaccine, TMC Bonham reports it has delivered more than 11,000 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moore told commissioners. That doesn’t mean 11,000 Fannin County residents have received the vaccine because any eligible Texan can get a vaccine at any provider. Data from the state health department suggests 34% of county residents age 16 and older are either fully vaccinated or have received their first shot. The health department reports 5,973 residents in the county received their first dose while 3,939 are now fully vaccinated, Hudson told commissioners.
Commissioners on Tuesday also extended the county’s Covid-19 disaster declaration and its continuity of plans. Moore reported there were 3,391 total cases in Fannin County since March 2020, but active cases have fallen to 10. Four of those cases are in the prison, he said. Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 105 county residents, a number that hasn’t changed in more than a week, Moore said.
“It’s not over with yet, but we’re getting so much better,” the county judge said, adding the county’s Trauma Service Area’s hospitalization rate has fallen to 4.4%.
Health safety measures used to fight the spread of Covid-19 has impacted influenza spread as well, Moore noted.
“Flu cases are basically not even heard of. It’s just very rare now that somebody has a case of the flu,” he said.
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