ODESSA, Texas — Thousands of our frontline workers in Odessa and Midland are continuing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 this week.
But what about the smaller hospitals around us, when will their front line be protected?
Hospitals in rural counties like Reeves, Martin, Winkler and Ward Memorial all have staff exposed to COVID-19 patients on a daily.
“They have been working from day one and they have sacrificed non-stop, so to offer them another layer of protection in addition to masks and gloves..it is a good feeling," Russell Tippin, Medical Center Hospital CEO said.
Medical Center has started saving some of its doses for smaller hospitals' frontline workers.
“We had a call this morning, our rural hospitals are not even on the list for Moderna so we want to get doses to them today," Tippin said. "They prop us up and we want to make sure they get their staff handled too."
Medical Center has started to vaccinate about 30 people from Reeves, Martin, Winkler and Ward Memorial hospital. Staff from those hospitals must come to Odessa to get vaccinated.
But there are some rural hospitals that have requested getting the Moderna vaccine delivered from the state:
- McCamey Hospital in Upton county: 100 doses
- Seminole Memorial Hospital: 200 doses
- Pecos County Memorial Hospital Fort Stockton: 500 doses
Some of those doses have already arrived.
As for Midland Memorial, they are focusing on distributing the vaccine in Midland for now.
After everyone is taken care of in Tall City, they will open vaccinations to smaller county’s frontline.
Those details are still being worked out.