TYLER, Texas — East Texas vaccinations are on the rise after 14,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson shots were distributed across 25 counties as of Monday.
Mostly small communities and independent pharmacies received a couple of hundred doses. East Texas received about 14% of the J&J vaccines sent to the state.
By Friday, many places were already out of the shots like Louis Morgan 4 in Longview, which received 100 doses.
Data collected by Thursday showed the total number of vaccines distributed across East Texas is more than 297,000, and so far 151,642 people have had at least one dose with 89,598 completely vaccinated.
NET Health announced Tuesday, a total of 43,816 people had been fully vaccinated for its region.
Starting Monday, the state is opening up the 1C category and Texans 50 and over will be able to receive a shot. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), more than 93% of Texas COVID-19 fatalities have been people over the age of 50.
There are about five million Texans between the ages of 50 and 64, and more than one million are vaccinated.
The Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Availability map by DSHS shows across the state there's a need for more vaccines.
NET Health on Wednesday postponed Moderna COVID-19 second doses scheduled for this week due to a lack of supply.
Overall, nearly 8 million doses of a vaccine have been administered in Texas, about 5.1 million people have received at least one dose and almost 2.7 million are fully vaccinated.