By Jerrie Whiteley
Herald Democrat
The county will be changing the provider for the free county sponsored COVID-19 tests that have been going on at Midway Mall in Sherman. The state s vendor contract with WellHealth, also known as GoGetTested, was not renewed and will end on Saturday.
The county was advised that the new vendor, DOCs, will set up similarly at the mall, GC Office of Emergency Management Director Sarah Somers said Tuesday. The start date will be Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. and then continue operations 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The bottom line, and I ll just say this, is we had some complaints, Grayson County Judge Bill Magers said during commissioner s court Tuesday about the change in testing providers. And, I wasn t happy with what they over promised and under delivered, and so after a number of times of trying to move forward with that, it didn t work out, so we re going to switch horses.
Important update:Â
The Virginia Department of Health has launched a centralized preregistration system for COVID-19 vaccinations: vaccinate.virginia.gov. This replaces the local surveys that had been used by health districts across the state.
If you have already preregistered with your local health district, your information and place in line should be maintained. You can check on the new site to see if you are in the system.
The state has also launched a hotline, 877-VAX-IN-VA or 877-829-4682, for those who do not have computer access. Callers can speak to someone in English or Spanish, or ask for a call back in 100 languages.Â
Each of Virginia’s health districts is responsible for determining how best to safely and efficiently administer their allotments of COVID-19 vaccines in their areas based on their partners and resources.
More than 2,200 people in Grayson County have received a COVID-19 vaccine in recent weeks.
The Grayson County Health Department has issued the following public guidance regarding the vaccine availability. While the GCHD has received 400 doses of the vaccine, it will not be handing that out to the general public.
In a report released this week by the GCHD and the GC Office of Emergency Management, the county encouraged people to continue to check the Texas Department of State Health Services website for COVID-19 vaccine distribution points throughout the county. The DSHS COVID-19 vaccination plan is focused on distributing the vaccine through doctor offices, pharmacies, and other health providers, the report said.