(CNN) — The distribution of coronavirus vaccines in states and cities in the United States is slowing due to winter storms that on Monday left more than a third of the country’s mainland in freezing temperatures.
The severe winter weather prompted emergency declarations in at least seven states, including Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.
These are the cities and states that have delayed or postponed vaccine distribution until now:
Texas
San antonio
The city postponed vaccination appointments scheduled for Tuesday at the Alamodome until Saturday due to the storm, according to a city news release.
This is the second day in a row that San Antonio has postponed vaccination at the site. Over the weekend, the city made the decision to move appointments from Monday to Friday.
“With the current icy conditions expected to last until at least tomorrow, we want to ensure the safety of the public. We also want to remind the public that they may be concerned about the slight delay in their second dose, that we are still within CDC guidelines to ensure that the vaccine will continue to work without problems, ”the statement said.
Body of Christ
No first doses of vaccines will be shipped to the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District on Monday and Tuesday due to winter weather, according to a city news release.
Both agencies received the news from the state on Monday.
The earliest a new shipment can arrive will be Wednesday, according to the press release.
Harris County
The winter storm cut power to the Harris County Public Health Department building around 2 a.m. Monday and the backup generator also failed. This put more than 8,400 coronavirus vaccines in danger of spoiling, Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo said Monday afternoon.
Officials quickly came up with a plan to assign and retrieve the vaccines, Hidalgo said.
Harris County officials chose Houston’s Ben Taub, Lyndon B. Johnson and Methodist Hospitals, as well as Rice University and the Harris County Jail as locations to receive the overnight vaccine, Hidalgo said.
Nevada
Nevada Health Response tweeted Monday that the state may experience a delay in deliveries this week due to powerful storms.
The state received word that the outage could occur and is working with health districts and pharmacies that may be affected.
“We ask the citizens of Nevada to remain patient at this time,” the tweet read.
Missouri
Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced Monday that the state has canceled all of its mass vaccination events scheduled for February 15 and 19 due to extreme winter weather, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“Missouri is experiencing severe winter weather that makes driving dangerous and threatens the health and safety of anyone exposed to the cold. These conditions will likely delay some vaccine shipments, ”Parson said. “We want to protect the safety of everyone involved in mass vaccination events, from the patients who get vaccinated to the volunteers who generously support these events.”
To protect doses, vaccine shipments arriving for this week’s mass vaccination events will remain in the nine Missouri State Highway Patrol regions across the state and will be redistributed to community hospitals with emergency generators.
Those hospitals will be allowed to administer the vaccine to those who are currently eligible, according to the statement. The second doses that were scheduled to be administered during the mass vaccination program will be kept in the region and will be administered “as soon as possible”.
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