Texans Lower Than National Average In One-And-Done COVID Vaccines

DALLAS — Thinking about not getting that second COVID-19 shot to boost your immunity? Think again, says Anthony Fauci, health advisor to the White House.

Statistics say that overall, some 8 percent of those Americans who've gotten a single shot haven't come back for seconds. All but the Johnson & Johnson vaccine require two injections to reach maximum internal effectiveness.

Still, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines do provide some protection after only a single dose. In fact, numbers suggest that after only one dose, the elderly experience 64% effectiveness in avoiding in-patient treatment. Once they're fully vaccinated, that number jumps to 94 percent effective in preventing hospitalization.

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Fauci, who many regard as the personification of the country's struggle to free itself from the pandemic, says remaining under-vaccinated will hamper the spread of the virus at a critical moment just as the nation — and Texas in particular — are encountering new variants of the disease that's already killed upwards of 49,000 Texans.

The "bottom line," says Fauci, is "Get vaccinated. And if you're having a two-dose regimen, make sure you get that second dose, too."

On average, the number of Texans ignoring or postponing a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines is lower that the nation's as a whole, at 5 percent. Even so, the longer the virus holds on through transmission, the more it can mutate. The more strains, the less effective the vaccine, and some in the health community are now predicting that if herd immunity is not reached soon by the end of the summer, there could be an entirely new outbreak and pandemic due to strains that have become resistant to the vaccines developed to date.

Some 570,399 Texans have let 43 or more days elapse since receiving their first dose of a vaccine, according to the Texas Department of State Health services. No one area of the state seems to be doing any better or worse than any other, but overall, officials have seen the first ever decline in Texans getting inoculated since the vaccines were approved for use late last year.

According to medical experts, under-vaccinated Texans are not likely to be skeptical of the effectiveness of the drugs approved, but fearful of the side effects from a second dose.

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