Physician and health care groups are calling for children to be protected from COVID-19 due to spikes in cases and hospitalizations from the COVID-19 delta variant. They recommend parents and families follow new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for masking everyone in schools, grades K-12 – regardless of vaccination status – and to vaccinate all children aged 12 and up who can receive the COVID-19 vaccine, to protect them and their families.

An official statement by Texas Medical Association (TMA) President E. Linda Villarreal, MD; Texas Pediatric Society (TPS) President Seth D. Kaplan, MD; and Texas Public Health Coalition (TPHC) Chair Jason V. Terk, MD reads as follows:

“As students head back to school this fall, physicians urge Texans to take steps to safeguard children from surging COVID-19 infections. We must defend children by vaccinating those aged 12 and up who can receive the COVID-19 shot, and by urging mask-wearing for everyone in schools to protect those who can’t be vaccinated.

“The pandemic has not ended – Gov. Greg Abbott renewed Texas’ disaster declaration on July 1 – and we physicians see it’s worsening as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths increase once again, mostly in unvaccinated Texans.

“Let’s face it; if we don’t take action, the more infectious COVID-19 delta variant will spread among students when they gather together in schools. We urge use of every tool in our toolkit to protect children and their families from COVID-19. Those tools include vaccinating everyone who is eligible and getting all students to wear a mask to prevent spread of disease to others, especially those who cannot get the shot’s defense from the virus.

“We want and need to have our children return to schools where they can learn and thrive. But we must ensure they are safe from disease spread to avoid outbreaks and disruptions that could keep kids out of school.”

The physicians also suggest children are caught up on all vaccinations in preparation for school.

FULLY VACCINATED

As of Monday, August 2nd, 26.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to almost 15 million Texans.

Just short of 53% of people 12 years or older are now fully vaccinated in our state. This number comprises about 75% of Texans as 65 or older.

Here are the percentages of fully vaccinated individuals in local counties:

12 years +  | 65 years +
–Freestone: 31.94% | 52.9%
–Navarro: 39.94% | 67.76%
–Limestone: 32.49% | 54.58%
–Leon: 33.51% | 58.68%
–Anderson: 33.91% | 56.66%

COVID-19 CASES

The Texas Department of Health and Humans Services has updated their COVID-19 app, visit dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/ and click Case Count to view to information.

Here is a current look at cases for local counties, as of August 1, 2021:

Confirmed | Probable | Fatalities | Active cases
–Freestone: 1,148 | 907 | 51 | 60
–Navarro: 3,557 | 2,610 | 147 | 184
–Limestone: 2,271 | 702 | 81 | 105
–Leon: 1,336 | 388 | 44 | 55
–Anderson: 4,717 | 1,527 | 134 | 85

The inmate unit list has been shortened to only include the prisons in Freestone County and surrounding counties.

Current numbers of confirmed active case inmates, as of July 31, 2021 in the State of Texas, are as follows:
–Beto – 6 inmate and 3 employees
–Boyd – 1 inmates and 5 employees
–Coffield – 0 inmates and 3 employees
–Michael – 1 inmates and 2 employees
–Powledge – 2 inmates and 1 employees

LOCAL VACCINE SITES

Texas is currently allowing vaccinations for all persons 12 and over.

Visit online at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/ to find a location near you.

Know someone who is eligible for a vaccine but doesn’t have internet access? Have them call 833-832-7067 for referral to a local vaccine provider.

Or, text your zip code to 438829 to receive a list of vaccination sites near you.

Local providers include the following:

–Freestone County
Pharmacy Plus of Teague – Walk-ins okay. J&J, Moderna. Call 254-739-2585.
Hometown Pharmacy – Fairfield: Moderna. Call 903-389-2541

–Limestone County
CVS Pharmacy – Walk-ins okay. Pfizer. Call 254-472-0306.
Walmart – Mexia: Walk-ins okay. J&J, Moderna. Call 254-562-3831.
H.E.B. – Walk-ins okay. J&J, Moderna, Pfizer. 254-562-5123.

–Anderson County
Kroger Pharmacy – Palestine: Walk-ins okay. Pfizer. Call 903-729-5362 or visit https://www.kroger.com/i/coronavirus-update/vaccine for more information
Walmart – Walk-ins okay. Moderna. 903-729-4441.
Walgreens – Walk-ins accepted. J&J, Pfizer. Call 903-723-4705 for information.

–Navarro County
HEB – Corsicana: Walk-ins welcome. J&J, Moderna, Pfizer. Call 903-874-6546 or visit www.vaccine.heb.com
CVS Pharmacy – Corsicana: Walk-ins okay. Pfizer. Call 903-874-6597 to inquire.
Walmart – Corsicana: Walk-ins welcome. Moderna. Call 903-872-6691.