Tarrytown Pharmacy in Austin quickly exhausted its supply of 500 coronavirus vaccine doses in late December, then was bombarded by phone calls from people looking to get vaccinated. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune
After the staff at Austin’s Tarrytown Pharmacy hustled to vaccinate 500 vulnerable Texans and front-line workers over the holidays, pharmacist Rannon Ching logged into an online state system used to track the vaccines.
Then he panicked.
According to the system, his Tarrytown pharmacy hadn’t vaccinated anyone. The numbers on his screen indicated all 500 doses were still sitting on his shelf.
“I freaked out thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re not going to give me any [more] doses because they think I’m not giving anything,’” Ching said.
Then he panicked.
According to the system, his Tarrytown pharmacy hadnât vaccinated anyone. The numbers on his screen indicated all 500 doses were still sitting on his shelf.
âI freaked out thinking, âOh my gosh, theyâre not going to give me any [more] doses because they think Iâm not giving anything,ââ Ching said.
As the state began the massive undertaking of distributing the coronavirus vaccine, its early rollout was beset by data problems that left state officials with immunization and dose information that was outdated, incomplete and sometimes misleading.
Health care providers feared those inaccurate numbers, collected by the stateâs immunization registry, ImmTrac2, and another system were being used by the state to decide who would get the weekly allotment of vaccine â and by others to decide who would get blamed for moving too slowly as a desperate public clamored for shots.
<figcaption> Tarrytown Pharmacy in Austin quickly exhausted its supply of 500 coronavirus vaccine doses in late December, then was bombarded by phone calls from people looking to get vaccinated. <cite>Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune</cite>
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The early coronavirus vaccine rollout in Texas was beset by data problems that left state officials with immunization information that was outdated and incomplete.
KERA News
Long lines mostly comprised of seniors and their caretakers form during the first day of the mega vaccine center at Fair Park, in Dallas, on Jan. 11, 2021.
Dr. Ana Rodriguez said people are willing to sit in her waiting rooms a long, long time hoping someone else skips a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.
“They sit there and they watch you for three, four, five hours to wait and see if you tell them there’s one vaccine left for them,” she said. “It is very sad.”
No-shows are exceedingly rare, according to Rodriguez, who is medical director at MD Medical Group, a private health care company.