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Healthy people under 50 in San Antonio should wait to get COVID-19 vaccine to prioritize high-risk groups, Metro Health says

Health officials are asking younger people to let more vulnerable populations take appointments at the mass vaccination sites when they become eligible.

SAN ANTONIO — Starting March 29, all adults in Texas will be eligible to get their coronavirus vaccine shot.

“Apparently there are a number of jurisdictions that don’t have the ability to make appointments for people to be vaccinated,” San Antonio Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger said.

That means in some parts of Texas they have the vaccines, but not enough people to give them to. In Bexar County, officials says it’s the complete opposite.

“All of the mass vaccination sites and all of the private vaccination sites have the ability to make appointments,” Dr. Bridger said.

In Bexar County specifically they are asking healthy people under 50 years old to hold off on getting their vaccines for at least another month.

UT Health San Antonio Chief Medical Officer Robert Leverence says it’s because the data shows young people are less likely too die from coronavirus.

“We still have tremendous demand from the high priority groups,” Dr. Leverence said. “Older individuals are at much higher risk to having severe disease, hospitalization, or death from COVID.”

Again, every adult will be eligible to get their vaccines starting Monday, but Metro Health says anyone 50-years-old or younger that need to get one should do so at one of the private vaccination locations.

“CVS, Walgreens, H-E-B, all of those pharmacies are providing COVID-19 vaccines. Look for those and let the more vulnerable populations have access to the four mass vaccination sites,” Dr. Bridger said.

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