[00:00:04]
I AM JOINED HERE BY COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN AND HOWARD AT 700 LAVACA.
AND WE HAVE COMMISSIONER MARGARET GOMEZ JOINING US REMOTELY.
IT IS AUGUST 31ST, UH, 2021, AND IT IS 9:09 AM.
AND I'LL CALL THE MEETING OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT TO ORDER AND HAND IT OFF TO MAYOR ADLER.
WE WILL ALSO COULD BE BEHIND THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, PORTION OF THIS JOINT MEETING, UH, FOR US BEING HELD, UH, REMOTELY.
WE HAVE INFORMED PRESENT, UH, NINE, 10, AND WE'RE READY TO START.
AND WE'VE COMMISSIONER SHAY HERE AS WELL.
AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL IT TOGETHER.
ALL THE ORDER OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT AND THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL WILL TAKE
[1. Update on Covid-19 related matters]
OUT ITEM ONE, UH, RECEIVE BRIEFINGS ON COVID-19 RELATED MATTERS.AND I THINK WE HAVE, UH, ONE CALLER ON THIS THAT WE'LL GO TO FOR THE TRAVIS COUNTY COLOR PORTION.
NOW, JUDGE, YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO GO TO THAT COLOR RIGHT NOW? YES, PLEASE.
UM, THE FIRST CALLER THIS MORNING IS MS. JANICE IS BOOK OUT.
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK.
UM, THIS MORNING I'LL BE SENDING EACH OF YOU BY EMAIL, AN UPDATED DOCUMENT, SUMMARIZING RECENT RESEARCH WITH SOURCE LINKS IN MANY CATEGORIES RELATED TO COVID-19 SUCH AS TRAVIS COUNTY TRENDS, DELTA VARIANTS, VACCINATION, AND PUBLIC INTEREST TESTING, LONG HAUL MASKING CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS.
IT'LL ALSO INCLUDE A LINK TO A SPREADSHEET WHERE I'M, WHERE, UM, CRTS TRACKING FIVE COUNTY REGION DATA, UM, OF DIS-AGGREGATED CASE RATES, VACCINE, ACCEPTANCE RATES AND VULNERABILITY DATA BY THIS CODE.
AND THEN A LINK TO AN INFOGRAPHIC THAT IS TRANSLATED INTO SPANISH AND ENGLISH ADDRESSING VACCINE HESITANCY.
UM, WHEN I LOOK AT THE VACCINE IN CASE DATA FROM THE EASTERN CRESCENT ZIP CODES COMPARED TO WEST TRAVIS COUNTY VACCINATION RATES IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT, ZIP CODES ARE CURRENTLY 9% LOWER THAN WEST TRAVIS COUNTY WHILE NEW CASES PER HUNDRED.
UM, SINCE JULY 1ST ARE TWO POINT TIMES HIGHER IN EASTERN, THE EASTERN CRESCENT AND THE NUMBER OF STATE APPROVED AND FEDERAL, UH, PROVIDERS ARE 2.1% MORE PREVALENT IN WEST TRAVIS COUNTY.
HOWEVER, UM, COMMUNITY BASED VACCINATION INITIATIVES ARE WORKING FOR EXAMPLE, CENTRAL TEXAS ALLIED HEALTH IS ONE OF OVER 500 APPROVED PROVIDERS IN THE COUNTY, BUT AS DELIVERED, UH, A DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH PERCENT, NEARLY 1% OF ALL VACCINES, UM, MORE SO THE PEOPLE THEY'RE REACHING FROM THE ZIP CODES OF HIGHEST NEEDS.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, 54% WERE HISPANIC, LATINO, 15% WERE BLACK, 8%, I'M SORRY, 15% WERE BLACK AND 8% WERE ASIAN.
THIS IS COMPARED TO COUNTY DATA OF 38%, 8% AND 3% RESPECTIVELY.
UM, THEY AREN'T THE ONLY ONES EITHER SINCE THE UNITED WAY FUNDED INITIATIVE STARTED IN MAY.
UH, THE RATIO OF DOSES DELIVERED IN WEST TRAVIS COUNTY COMPARED TO EAST TRAVIS COUNTY HAS REDUCED FROM 1.9 TO 1.3.
IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE CO THEY ARE COLLECTIVELY CLOSING THE GAP AND THE EASTERN CRESCENT GROUPS LIKE DEL VALLEY COALITION BACK TOGETHER, AUSTIN WITH CENTER SERVER, FOR SURVIVORS OF TORTURE AND MANY OTHERS HAVE IMPRESSIVE RESULTS.
AND EACH OF THESE GROUPS HAVE CUSTOMIZED STRATEGIES FOR OUTREACH AND DELIVERY THAT ARE ALL UNIQUE TO THEIR CONSTITUENCIES.
I SAY THIS TO SAY, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE ANY OF THESE GROUPS IN THEIR FINE WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, REACHING VERY SPECIFIC GROUPS THAT WE TO DATE HAVE NOT REACHED.
AND ADDITIONALLY FUNDING, ADDITIONAL FUNDING INITIATIVES ARE VITAL TO ENSURE THAT THEY DO SO, WHATEVER WE DO, WE NEED TO SUPPORT THESE GROUPS AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY ALL GET FUNDING TO CONTINUE THEIR EFFORTS BECAUSE IT IS WORKING, BUT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO STOP THE DOCUMENT THAT I'M SENDING.
WE'LL ALSO ADDRESS OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCERNS RELATED TO DOCTORING SCHOOLS, BUSINESS TRACKING OF BREAKTHROUGH CASES.
AM I AT THREE MINUTES? CAN I SAY ONE MORE SENTENCE OR ONE MORE THING, DENNIS? THANK YOU.
UM, AND, AND FINALLY, I JUST WOULD LIKE VERY MUCH FOR TRACKING TO BE DONE TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THAT, UM, THE TIME SINCE THE VACCINE, THE TYPE OF VACCINE OR THE VACCINE BATCH QUALITY HAS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH TRENDS AND BREAKTHROUGH HOSPITALIZATIONS, UH, UNDERSTANDING THIS IS IMPERATIVE.
SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
[00:05:06]
GOOD MORNING.EVERYONE MORNING WANTED TO START BY SAYING THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE WORKED SO HARD AT AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH TO PREPARE THIS DATA.
UM, WE HAVE A LARGE STAFF OF EPIDEMIOLOGISTS WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO PUT IN THE, UM, CASES THAT ARE PRESENTED TO APH EVERY DAY.
AND THEN, UM, THEY WORK DILIGENTLY TO RESEARCH ON EACH CASE, WHETHER THE PERSON'S VACCINATED AND, UM, IN A LOT OF CASES ALSO GO TO THE RECORDS ONCE THEY'RE COMPLETED TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CO-MORBIDITIES AND ALIKE.
SO I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO THEM FOR THEIR TIRELESS WORK.
UM, THE FIRST SLIDE THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT IS THE SLIDE THAT DEPICTS THE, UM, PANDEMIC, AS WE KNOW IT AND HAVE KNOWN SINCE LAST MARCH, AND WE'RE STARTING TO SEE OUR CASE NUMBERS, UM, DECREASE OVER TIME.
UM, AND THAT IS, UM, AN EXCEPTIONAL THING TO SEE AT THIS POINT, BUT WE'RE STILL CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC.
UM, WE HAD 886 CASES REPORTED TO APH YESTERDAY.
72 IS OUR SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE HOSPITALIZATIONS.
IT'S 604 COVID PATIENTS AND HOSPITAL.
I'M NOT SEEING OUR SLIDES RIGHT NOW.
SO I'M HOPING THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE PUT UP WHILE I'M TALKING, UM, 604 COVID PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL, 220 PEOPLE IN ICU, 170 OF THOSE AROUND VENTILATORS AND HAVING, YEAH.
CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW? YEAH, THAT'S BETTER.
UH, COVID CASES PRESENTED TO APH YESTERDAY.
OUR SEVEN DAY MOVIE AVERAGE IS 72.
WE HAVE 604 PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL YESTERDAY 220 IN ICU, 170 OF THEM ARE ON VENTILATORS, 55 ADMISSIONS, 66 DISCHARGES.
WE HAD TWO PEDIATRIC ADMISSIONS.
IT LOOKS LIKE IN OUR SEVEN-DAY MOVING AVERAGE, UM, WHICH WE'RE HAPPY ABOUT.
HOWEVER, WE DO KNOW THAT OUR CASE NUMBERS AND OUR SCHOOLS HAVE GONE UP TREMENDOUSLY OVER THIS PAST WEEK.
AND SO WE'RE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WHAT THAT IN WHETHER THAT'S THIS PLATEAU THAT WE'RE SEEING IS GOING TO PERSIST OR WHETHER WE'RE GOING TO SEE ANOTHER INCREASE IN OUR CASES.
SO WE'RE STILL IN SLAT STAGE FIVE.
WE HAVE EXCEEDED OUR STAFF ICU BED CAPACITY, AND WE SHOULD NOT STOP OUR EFFORTS AND AS A COMMUNITY TO KEEP OUR NUMBERS GOING DOWN BY MASKING SOCIAL DISTANCING, STAYING HOME WHEN SICK AND ENCOURAGING VACCINATION.
IF YOU LOOK AT OUR, UM, MSA AND THE HOSPITALIZATIONS, UH, PATIENTS IN, IN OUR LOCAL HOSPITALS, THIS VACCINE DATA, UM, IS WHAT WE'VE GOTTEN FROM THOSE INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE REPORTING THEIR VACCINATION RATES.
UM, SO THIS IS NOT ALL INCLUSIVE OF ALL OF OUR HOSPITALS SYSTEMS, BUT IT DOES SHOW THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE BEING ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL ARE NOT VACCINATED, NOT FULLY PROTECTIVE.
81% ARE UN-VACCINATED AND 18.6% ARE VACCINATED.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, IF YOU LOOK AT THE DATA ON THIS SLIDE, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE ADMISSIONS TO HOSPITAL BY RACE AND ETHNICITY, AND WE STILL SEE A DISPROPORTIONATE REPRESENTATION OF HISPANIC AND BLACKS IN OUR HOSPITAL SYSTEMS, UM, THAT IT IS CONSISTENT OVER THE LENGTH OF THIS PANDEMIC.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT OUR ADMISSIONS TO HOSPITAL, BASED ON OUR, THEIR COUNTY OF RESIDENTS
[00:10:01]
AND ZIP CODES, WE'RE SEEING THAT 52% OF THOSE ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL ARE FROM TRAVIS COUNTY, 21% WILLIAMSON COUNTY AND 0.7% FROM BASTROP COUNTY.AND THE ZIP CODES THAT ARE REPRESENTED ARE THOSE ALSO THAT HAVE LOWER VACCINE UPTAKE AND HIGHER, UH, SOCIAL VULNERABILITY IN DUCKS.
WE LOOK AT THE RACE AND ETHNICITY OF THOSE WHO WERE ADMITTED TO ICU.
YOU'RE SEEING A BREAKDOWN THAT'S SIMILAR TO THE ADMISSION RATES THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
81% OF THOSE ADMITTED TO ICU ARE WHITE WITH 37.5% OF 35.7 OF THOSE, UM, BEING HISPANIC AND BLACKS REPRESENT 5% OF THE ADMISSIONS TO ICU.
IF YOU LOOK AT OUR NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF ADMISSIONS TO HOSPITAL BY AGE GROUP.
AND AS WE TALKED ABOUT IN PREVIOUS SESSIONS, THERE'S AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ADMISSIONS OF PEDIATRIC CASES AS UNDER THE AGE OF 18.
UM, AND FOR THE PERIOD OF, UH, JULY 1ST TO AUGUST 29TH, WE'VE HAD 108 ADMISSIONS TO HOSPITAL FROM THE PEDIATRIC CASES AND 38 33 OF THOSE HAVE BEEN ADMITTED TO ICU.
UM, DURING THAT THE LAST WEEKEND WE DID HAVE A PEDIATRIC DEATH, UNFORTUNATELY, UM, AND THAT INDIVIDUAL WAS A CHILD WHO HAD COME A BIT AND HAVE BEEN ON A VENTILATOR FOR OVER A MONTH.
WE LOOK AT OUR DEATH RATES, UM, AND LOOK AT THE, HOW WE'RE DOING AS COMPARED TO OTHER MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS.
UM, TRAVIS, COUNTY'S STILL AS DOING WELL, UM, AS COMPARED TO OTHER MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS WITH 84.4, ONE DEATHS PER HUNDRED THOUSAND.
AND I HAD A REQUEST TO GIVE SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DEATHS, UM, ACCORDING TO RACE AND ETHNICITY.
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT, UM, HISPANIC INDIVIDUALS HAVE A 51% THAT'S, UH, THOSE TOTAL DEATHS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED WHITES, UM, NON HISPANIC HAVE 30% OF THE DEATHS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED.
FLAX, 12% OF DEATHS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED ASIANS 2.6, 1% OF DEATHS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED.
AND, UM, OTHER, THE OTHER CATEGORIES LISTED AS 3.3, 9% OF DEATHS REPORTED FOR 2021.
THE REPRESENTATION OF DEATHS, UM, BY FLEX AND HISPANICS IS AGAIN AN EXCESS OF THEIR REPRESENTATION OF THE TOTAL POPULATION, UM, AS IS THEIR REPRESENTATION FOR OVERALL DISEASE.
UM, OUR EFFORTS TO VACCINATE OUR COMMUNITY NEED TO CONTINUE.
UM, WE NEED TO CONTINUE MASKING IN SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAYING HOME WHEN SICK.
AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE NOW HAVE A NEW TOOL IN OUR TOOLBOX MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY.
AND WE HAVE STARTED A CAMPAIGN TO GET THE WORD OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY, THAT IF THEY TEST POSITIVE, WE ASK THAT THEY SEEK HELP FROM THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDER AND ALSO ASK ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY.
IT DOES DECREASE HOSPITALIZATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE AT RISK FOR SEVERE DISEASE BY 70%.
UM, IT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTION FOR VACCINATIONS.
HOWEVER, THOSE WHO ARE POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 ARE NOT ABLE TO BE VACCINATED UNTIL AFTER THEY RECOVER.
SO WE'RE ASKING THOSE WHO TEST POSITIVE TO INQUIRE WITH THEIR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER AND SEE IF THEY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'VE HAD A MARKED INCREASE IN SCHOOL CASES ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS WITH SCHOOLS REOPENING, UM, AND NOT USING THE MITIGATION EVIDENCE THAT WE USED LAST YEAR TO DECREASE CASE SPREAD IN THAT ENVIRONMENT OF CONGREGATE CONGREGATE SETTING, WHERE CHILDREN ARE IN CLOSE QUARTERS AND NOT SOCIAL DISTANCING.
[00:15:01]
UM, JUST IN THE LAST WEEK IN TRAVIS COUNTY, UM, WE'VE HAD 817 CASES WITH 17,240 CLUBS.CONTACTS IDENTIFY AS TEA IS NOT REQUIRING QUARANTINING AT THIS TIME.
NOT ALL OF THOSE CLOSE CONTEXTS THAT HAVE BEEN IN FACT IDENTIFIED HAVE BEEN INFORMED TO YOU HAVE BEEN 67 CLUSTERS IDENTIFIED IN TRAVIS COUNTY ISD, UM, WHICH IS ALSO OF CONCERN CHILDREN UNDER 12 CAN NOT BE VACCINATED.
SO WEARING MASKS AND PROTECTING THEM FROM COVID 19 IN SCHOOLS HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED BY THE CDC, THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS, MANY OTHER GROUPS, AS WELL AS MYSELF AND OTHER HEALTH AUTHORITIES ACROSS THE STATE.
WE HAVE A COUPLE OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHO HAVE CLOSED, UH, ENTIRE GRADES, UM, AND WE'RE REALLY ENCOURAGING EVERYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN AND SEND THEM TO SCHOOL MASKED.
WE LOOK AT THE DATA AND THE NEXT SLIDE, THIS MAY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH FROM PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS.
UM, AND IT DOES SHOW THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MASK WEARING.
UM, THIS IS, UH, DEPICTS A, A DUMMY THAT IS BEING MASKED WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF MASKS.
AND IT SHOWS, UM, HOW VAPOR IS EMITTED FROM MASK, DEPENDING ON HOW WELL THE MASK FITS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE IS SOME LEAKAGE AROUND THE MASK AT TIMES, UM, UM, DUE TO FITTING OF THE MASK AND TIGHTNESS OF THE MASK AROUND THE CHIN, UM, WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S A SNUG FIT ON THE CHEEKS, ET CETERA.
SO YOU CAN SEE HOW THE VAPOR CAN BE EXPELLED AND LEAK AND NOT MAKE, UM, THE MASK A HUNDRED PERCENT EFFECTIVE.
HOWEVER, IT DOES CONFER SOME PROTECTION FOR THE, UM, EMISSION OF THOSE AEROSOLIZED PARTICLES FROM SOMEONE WHO MAY HAVE COVID-19 THIS I'M SHOWING TO SHOW THAT IT'S IMPORTANT, NOT ONLY FOR THE PERSON THAT'S INFECTED WITH COVID-19 TO WEAR A MASK, BUT FOR THE PERSON WHO WAS BEING PROTECTED AND NOT INFECTED WITH COVID-19.
UM, IF YOU APPLY A MASK AND THEN ALSO EMPLOY SOCIAL DISTANCING, THESE VAPORS DO NOT REACH A PERSON THAT YOU MAY BE IN A ROOM WITH.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO MASK.
I'VE HEARD, UM, COMMENTS DURING SOME OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS THAT I'VE BEEN TO WHERE THERE'S BEEN SOME CONCERN ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT, UM, WEARING A MASK AFFECTS THE OXYGEN LEVELS.
UH, THE PERSON THAT'S WEARING A MASK IN THE, UH, 2021, UM, VIRTUAL MEETING THAT WAS HELD BY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ALLERGY ASTHMA AND IMMUNOLOGY, THEY DEFINITIVELY REPORTED THAT MASK WEARING DOES SLOW THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 AND DOES NOT IMPACT THE OXYGEN SATURATION AND THE LEVEL OF OXYGEN IN A PERSON'S BLOOD.
UM, IT MASTERED NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SAFELY WEAR MASKS, SUCH AS, UM, PEOPLE THAT CANNOT REMOVE MASK EITHER BECAUSE THEY'RE PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO, OR MENTALLY INCAPABLE OF DOING SO, OR IF THEY HAVE A CONDITION THAT WOULD PRECLUDE THEM FROM WEARING A MASK, GENERALLY SPEAKING, MASTER SAFE TO WEAR AND EFFECTIVE IN JUST CREASING.
THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 THAT'S LIKELY THE VACCINES HAVE BEEN HELPING TO PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, OUR SENIORS, UM, AND THIS SLIDE AND THAT I S IN SHOWING ME EACH WEEK, UM, SHOWS THAT THERE ARE NEW FACILITY CASES THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PAST 14 DAYS.
UM, THE INCREASES FROM 32 CASES TO 56 CASES, 13, UH, FACILITIES REPORTED POSITIVE SAMPLE COLLECTIONS, UM, IN THE PAST WEEK AND EIGHT, THE PREVIOUS WEEK OF THE 25 RESIDENT CASES, 24 OF THEM WERE FULLY VACCINATED OF THE 31 STAFF CASES, 19, WHICH WILL BE VACCINATED.
THE VACCINE, HOWEVER, IS PRODUCING MILD DISEASE.
AND THE CASES THAT ARE OCCURRING IN THE LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES AND THUS IS SUPPORTING OUR, OUR ASSERTION THAT SEVERE
[00:20:01]
DISEASE IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT IS NOT SEEN, UM, AS FREQUENTLY AND PEOPLE THAT ARE VACCINATED AND IT'S DECREASING HOSPITALIZATIONS.THESE INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO STAY IN THEIR LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES FOR CARE.
UM, SO WE CONTINUE TO RECOMMEND VACCINATIONS AND WE WILL BE GIVING THIRD SHOT BOOSTERS, UM, AS, UM, THE NEXT FEW WEEKS GO ON TO HELP, UM, BOOST THE IMMUNITY.
AND IT'S CONFIRMED BY THE VACCINE.
THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, I'M SHOWING THIS SLIDE, UH, ONCE AGAIN, JUST TO, UM, INDICATE THAT THE USE OF MITIGATION MEASURE MEASURES THAT'S ONGOING IN OUR LOCAL BARS AND THROUGH TO STAFF, ESTABLISHMENTS HAS CONTINUED TO, UM, MITIGATE THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 THERE USE THOSE PROTOCOLS IN THERE.
UM, ESTABLISHMENTS HAS KEPT THEIR STAFF CASES TO A LOW NUMBER, UM, EVEN THROUGH THIS DELTA VARIANT WAY.
UM, AND WE'VE SEEN, UM, THAT WE HAVE HAD NASS, UM, USED IN VARIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS AND BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS ACROSS OUR CITY, WHICH HAS HELPED KEEP OUR BUSINESSES OPEN.
AND OUR ECONOMY GOING AS WE LOOK TO EVENTS, UM, EVENTS ARE ALSO STARTING TO EMPLOY MITIGATION PROTOCOLS AND MEASURES TO HELP SLOW THE SPREAD AND THIS, UM, WE FEEL WILL HELP TO KEEP OUR NUMBERS DOWN AS WE'RE IN STAGE FIVE.
WE'RE LOOKING AT EACH EVENT ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS, AND NOT ONLY ASSESSING WHETHER THE MITIGATIONS ARE BEING, UM, USED, BUT ALSO WHETHER OR NOT OUR, UM, PUBLIC HEALTH, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE CAN TOLERATE, UM, CASE NUMBERS AND PROUD SIZE.
SO GOING FORWARD, EACH VET WILL BE ASSESSED ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH STAGE FIVE AND CONTINUING TO MITIGATE, AND HOPEFULLY CONTINUE TO HAVE OUR NUMBERS OF CASES.
UM, THIS IS JUST TO FAMILIARIZE EVERYONE AGAIN ABOUT MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY.
IT CAN BE DELIVERED EITHER BY INFUSION INTRAVENOUSLY OR VIA SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTIONS.
OUR REGIONAL INFUSION CENTER IS DELIVERING THE MEDICATION BY IB.
UM, IT IS A TREATMENT THAT IS GIVEN, UM, WHERE A PATIENTS RECEIVE ANTIBODIES TO COVID-19.
THESE ANTIBODIES COVERED THE SPIKE PROTEINS SO THAT THEY CAN NOT BIND TO OURSELVES AND CAUSE AN INFECTION THE, UM, TREATMENT NEEDS TO BE GIVEN WITHIN 10 DAYS OF SYMPTOM ONSET.
IT DOES, UM, DECREASE THE SYMPTOMS, UH, FAIRLY QUICKLY.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE SEEK THE, UM, COUNSEL AND ADVICE OF A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER SO THAT THEY CAN BE REFERRED TO THE CENTER IF THEY'RE ELIGIBLE.
AND THEY ARE, UM, WE'VE SEEN, UH, A GOOD TURNOUT AND GOOD RESPONSE FROM NOT ONLY OUR MEDICAL COMMUNITY, BUT, UM, PATIENTS WHO HAVE UNDERGONE CHRONOTHERAPY HAVE S UH, STATED THAT THEY'VE HAD GOOD FOR RESPONSE FROM, UM, THE TREATMENT.
SO WE'RE HAPPY THAT WE'RE, UM, ABLE TO OFFER THIS TREATMENT AND WE'RE, UM, HOPING THAT THE PUBLIC WILL CONTINUE TO GET HERE EARLY ON SO THAT THEY CAN, UM, AVOID HOSPITALIZATION.
THE TREATMENT IS AVAILABLE TO BEZOS WHO ARE AT RISK FOR DEVELOPING SEVERE DISEASE.
AND, UM, THE CRITERIA, UM, INCLUDED AGE OVER 65.
UM, IT'S AVAILABLE TO ANYBODY OVER THE AGE OF 12, WHO HAS A MEDICAL TICK CONDITIONER HISTORY THAT WOULD, UM, MAKE THEM ELIGIBLE IT'S ELIGIBLE, UH, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LUNG DISEASE, HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, UM, FOR THOSE WHO ARE BLACK OR HISPANIC, IT'S FOR THOSE WHO ARE AT RISK FOR SEVERE DISEASE AND ILLNESS, AND, UM, CONSULT YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER, IF YOU'RE POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 TO SEE IF YOU'RE ELIGIBLE AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, WE ARE MAKING
[00:25:01]
EXCELLENT PROGRESS IN OUR VACCINE EFFORTS.UM, NOT ONLY DO APH BETTER COLLABORATION WITH PARTNERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, WHEN I FIRST GOT HERE IN EARLY JUNE, OUR VULNERABLE POPULATION SET AT 20%, AND WE ARE NOW DOWN TO 9%, WHICH IS EXTRAORDINARY.
UM, THE VACCINE UPTAKE HAS INCREASED OUR PARTNERS AND APH, UM, EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY, UM, THROUGH MANY, MANY DIFFERENT MEANS, INCLUDING THOSE THAT WERE MENTIONED BY THE CALL EARLIER, AND THIS IS THE WAY FORWARD AND OUT OF THIS PANDEMIC.
UM, AND I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO REPORT VERY SOON THAT WE'VE REACHED THE 70% MARK, UH, ON THOSE OVER AGE 12 FOR FULLY VACCINATED.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL CONCLUDE MY REMARKS.
SO FIRST, I'LL START OUT TALKING ABOUT, UM, TESTING ON, UH, ON THE SCREEN HERE.
YOU'LL SEE THAT WE HAVE SEVERAL OPTIONS FOR FOLKS TO GO IN AND GET TESTED.
UM, WE'RE AT THE GEORGE MIRALIS DOVE SPRINGS REC AT ST.
JOHN'S WE OFFER IN-HOME TESTING MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS CALL 3 1, 1 OR FIVE ONE TWO NINE SEVEN FOUR 2000.
UM, WE ARE ALSO WORKING WITH OUR, OUR FACILITY TO, UM, OFFER TESTING IN HOMELESS SHELTERS AND, AND OTHER PLACE OTHER CONGREGATE, UM, FACILITIES.
SO AGAIN, UM, IF YOU ARE SICK, PLEASE GET TESTED.
IF YOU ARE EXPOSED TO SOMEONE WHO, WHO TESTED POSITIVE, PLEASE GET TESTED.
WHEN IN DOUBT, PLEASE GET TESTED.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THESE FREE OPTIONS OFFERED BY AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
THERE ARE SEVERAL PROVIDERS IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT ARE OFFERING TESTING SERVICE SERVICES, UM, AND JUST, UH, FOR CONTEXT, OUR TESTING CAPACITY IS 5,900 PER WEEK.
AND YOU CAN SEE OVER THE LAST WEEK, UM, WE ADMINISTERED JUST OVER 3,600 TESTS.
AND SO NOW WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, VACCINES, WE SEE, UM, OUR CUMULATIVE TOTAL FOR TRAVIS COUNTY OR FOUR DOSES DELIVERED BY AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY CARE, OR AT 455,706.
OUR WEEKLY TOTAL IS, UM, 1,522.
UM, ACCORDING TO, UH, DSHS 78 POINT 26% OF OUR POPULATION 12 AND OVER IS VACCINATED WITH AT LEAST ONE DOSE AND 67% OF OUR ELIGIBLE POPULATION IS FULLY VACCINATED.
UM, THIS DATA IS CURRENT AS OF AUGUST 30TH.
WE STILL HAVE 250,000 ELIGIBLE PEOPLE WHO ARE UNVACCINATED.
AND SO WE WILL CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS WITH OUR PARTNERS, UM, TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE REACHING OUT TO COMMUNITIES THAT WE'RE PROVIDING ACCESS OPPORTUNITIES AND INFORMATION TO SUPPORT THE CHOICE, UM, OF VACCINATION.
UM, AND JUST FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT AS OF AUGUST 30TH, AWESOME PUBLIC HEALTH HAS ADMINISTERED OVER 340,000 DOSES OF THE COVID, UM, VACCINE, UM, OF THESE 300,000 HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED THROUGH, UM, OUR STATIC SITES JUST OVER 10,000 HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED THROUGH OUR POP-UPS AND 9,556 THROUGH OUR MOBILE STRIKE TEAMS. AND AGAIN, THIS, THIS SLIDE IS, UM, FROM DSHS AND IT SHOWS THE DATA FOR THE COUNTY BROKEN OUT BY RACE AND ETHNICITY.
UM, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SHOTS IN TRAVIS COUNTY IS JUST OVER 1.5 MILLION.
UM, ITEMS TO NOTE ON THIS CHART IS THAT WE'RE STILL SEEING THE DISPARITIES IN BLACK AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES WITH, UM, ONE DOSE VACCINATION, AS WELL AS A PERCENT FOLKS, FULLY VACCINATED.
UM, THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS LAST WEEK ABOUT THE OTHER CATEGORY, AND THIS COMES FROM THE WAYS IN WHICH, UM, THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS COLLECT AND REPORT EITHER, UM, WHO CHOOSE A MULTIPLE
[00:30:01]
RACES OR ETHNICITIES WHEN I'M DISCLOSING ON THEIR FORM.AND THERE'S NO WAY DSHS DOESN'T BREAK OUT BIRACIAL, UM, COMMUNITIES IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE MIGHT DO AT A LOCAL LEVEL.
WHEN WE, UM, LOOK AT OUR, OUR MAP AGAIN, UM, NOT TOO MANY CHANGES, BUT IT'S, IT'S STILL SOMETHING THAT I LIKE TO SEE FROM EARLIER, UM, IN JULY WHERE WE HAD A LOT OF RED AND THAT RED INDICATED THAT WE HAD COMMUNITIES THAT WERE BELOW THE 50% MARK FOR FIRST DOSE PENETRATION, THIS MAP, UM, HAS A LOT OF GREEN.
AND THAT MEANS THE MAJORITY OF OUR COMMUNITY IS ABOVE THE 70% MARK.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE, WE STRIVE TO BE THE BLUE INDICATES THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE WITHIN 60 TO 69%.
AND THOSE ARE THE AREAS THAT WE FOCUS ON WITH OUR PARTNERS IN THE COUNTY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PROVIDING ACCESS INFORMATION AND SHOTS.
UM, AND THE YELLOW CHARACTER CATEGORY ARE THOSE AREAS THAT ARE, UM, 50 TO 59%.
AND THAT'S THAT 7, 8, 7 0 5 AREA.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SECOND DOSE MAP THAT THAT RED IS STILL THERE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, AS WE'VE SAID BEFORE, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO SAY THROUGHOUT THIS PRESENTATION, AND YOU'LL HEAR FROM, UM, THE COUNTY COLLABORATIVE, THERE ARE FOCUSED EFFORTS ON, UM, 7, 8, 6 1 7 TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING, UH, ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, THOSE RESIDENTS TO, TO GET THEIR SHOTS SO THAT WE CAN BRING THAT ZIP CODE ABOVE THE 50% MARK.
UM, AND OF COURSE WE CONTINUE TO WORK IN THE AREAS WHERE THERE IS NO GREEN.
AND SO THIS INFORMATION ALONG WITH, UH, OTHER INFORMATION FROM FOLKS ON THE FIELD IS, IS USED TO, UM, INFORM OUR STRATEGIES, UM, FOR FIRST AND SECOND DOSES.
AND SO THIS SLIDE HERE JUST GIVES THE BODY SOME SIGIL WASTING AWARENESS ON OUR VACCINE INCENTIVES.
AND SO THE INTENT WAS TO FOCUS ON OUR HARD TO REACH POPULATIONS AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO OBTAIN THEIR FIRST OR SECOND DOSE OF THE COVID VACCINE.
AND THIS WAS REALLY ON THAT MOVEABLE MIDDLE FOLKS THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, DECIDED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO GET THE VACCINE AND EITHER WERE WAITING FOR A CONVENIENT OPPORTUNITY OR THE FULL APPROVAL AND THE LIKE, AND SO TO RECEIVE THE, UM, INCENTIVE, WE ASKED INDIVIDUALS TO COMPLETE A SURVEY AND THAT SURVEY WAS DESIGNED TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR DECISION MAKING PROCESS, UM, TO GET A VACCINE, WE PURCHASED A 2000 GIFT ATB GIFT CARDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $50, UM, TO DATE WE'VE DISTRIBUTED APPROXIMATELY 1,650 OF THE GIFT CARDS WITH 350 LEFT.
UM, WE'RE STILL ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF, UM, THIS INCENTIVE ON VACCINE UPTAKE.
WE'RE CONTINUING TO REVIEW, UH, PARTNER CITIES AND THEIR EXPERIENCES.
UM, RECENTLY HAD SOME INTERACTION WITH HARRIS COUNTY, UM, WHO ARE REPORTING HUGE INCREASES, UH, BASED ON THEIR INCENTIVE PLAN THAT, UM, IS CENTERED AROUND A VIRTUAL OR CASH GIFT CARD RATHER THAN A STORE GIFT CARD.
UM, AND IT'S, IT'S LIMITED TO FIRST AND SECOND SHOTS ONLY NOT BOOSTERS, BUT, UM, WE WANT TO GET OUR TEAMS TOGETHER TO SEE WHAT THEIR APPROACH WAS TO HAVE A MORE FOCUSED, UM, IMPLEMENTATION.
UM, WHAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE GROUND IS HERE THAT, UM, WHERE WE'VE HAD A LOT OF UPTAKE, IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN IN THE AREAS OF THAT, WHICH WE WOULD HAVE LIKED.
AND SO IF WE WERE TO DO THIS AGAIN, UM, WANTING TO NOT REINVENT THE WHEEL, BUT REALLY RELY ON LESSONS LEARNED IN SISTER CITIES TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO IMPLEMENT, UM, VACCINE OPERATIONS CONTINUE THIS WEEK, UM, AT OUR STATIC LOCATIONS, WHICH ARE THE SOUTHEAST BRANCH LIBRARY, THE LITTLE WALNUT CREEK BRANCH LIBRARY AND THE ANALOGIC CENTER, UM, THOSE VACCINES AT THE ANILOX CENTER IS STAFFED BY THE CENTRAL CENTRAL TEXAS ALLIED HEALTH INSTITUTE LED BY DR.
UH, JERICHO THOMAS HOCKADAY AND SUPPORTED BY FUNDS FROM AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
UM, THE TEAM WILL ALSO BE OUT, UM, IN PFLUGERVILLE AT THE HARMONY SCIENCE ACADEMY, AND WE'LL BE IN THE, AT THE L I S L I S D TECHNOLOGY BUILDING AND LEANDER.
UM, AND WE EXPECT THAT OUR MOBILE OPERATIONS TEAM WILL BE AT APPROXIMATELY 27 EVENTS THIS WEEK.
[00:35:01]
AND THOSE INCLUDE, UH, VARIOUS ACC CAMPUSES, UM, SELECT CAP, METRO FACILITIES.AND ONCE AGAIN, WE WILL BE AT THE MONTOPOLIS FLEA MARKET.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF VACCINE IN THIS COMMUNITY AND, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, AGAIN, WORKING WITH PARTNERS, WORK INFORMING COMMUNITY.
YOU CAN VISIT US AT WWW DOT AUSTIN, TEXAS.GOV TO FIND OUT WHICH LOCATION THIS WEEK WORKS FOR YOU, BUT WE REALLY WANT THE COMMUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE AMOUNT OF VACCINE THAT'S AVAILABLE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO JUST TO TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT, UM, SOME SITUATIONAL UPDATES ON ACTIVITIES RELATED TO BOOSTERS AND THE IMPACT OF THE FULL FDA APPROVAL FOR THE PFIZER VACCINE.
UM, AND SO FOR BOOSTERS, THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IMMUNIZATION PRACTICES, THE ACRP HAS RECOMMENDED A THIRD DOSE AFTER 28 DAYS, UM, FOLLOWING THE SECOND DOSE FOR IMMUNOCOMPROMISED INDIVIDUALS.
UM, AND SO WE TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION FOR OUR PLANNING.
UM, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT, UH, CDC CHANGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO DETERMINE WHETHER WE NEED TO INCLUDE DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OR TO DETERMINE SHORTER INTERVALS BETWEEN BOOSTERS OR ADDITIONAL VACCINES.
SO ALL THAT TO SAY IS, ALL OF OUR PLANNING IS BASED ON GUIDANCE FROM THE CDC AND WHAT WE KNOW FROM THE FDA.
AND SO TO THAT END, WE'RE SAYING STILL WAITING FOR, UM, UM, APPROVAL FOR THE PD VACCINES, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE PLANNING ON WHAT OUR SYSTEMS WOULD LOOK LIKE IN AUSTIN HEALTH FOREST.
WE'RE PLANNING ON WHAT THE STAFFING WOULD LOOK LIKE.
UM, BECAUSE PEDIATRIC IMMUNIZATIONS ARE A VERY DIFFERENT ANIMAL FROM, UM, OLDER YOUTH AND ADULT VACCINES.
AND SO MAKING SURE THAT WE IDENTIFY ANY STAFFING NEEDS OR GAPS EARLY, AND THAT WE ALIGN OUR PROCESSES TO MEET THAT COMMUNITY NEED ONCE IT BECOMES ONLINE.
AND SO AGAIN, MORE ABOUT, UM, BOOSTER PLANNING, UM, WHAT WE KNOW THAT'S DIFFERENT FROM THE FIRST TIME IS THAT WE ARE NOT A HUB, RIGHT? WE'RE NOT A HUB, THERE'S PLENTY OF COMMUNITY OF VACCINE AND THE COMMUNITY.
THERE'S NOT THIS KIND OF WAIT AND SEE HOW MANY DOSES WE'RE GOING TO GET FROM THE STATE THIS WEEK.
UH, WE WERE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION WHETHER OUR PLANNING THAT VACCINES SHOULD BE FREE.
UM, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE BOTH AND A VACCINES AVAILABLE AT ALL OF OUR SITES.
SO ANY INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER YOU GOT PFIZER OR MADONNA, YOU CAN COME TO APH AND GET YOUR BOOSTER SHOT.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE ARE, UH, SCHEDULING THAT THIRD DOSE OR IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, AND YOU CAN EITHER DO THAT ONLINE OR CALL 3, 1, 1, AND THOSE CALLS WILL BE ROUTED TO OUR EQUITY LINE, AND THAT TEAM CAN WALK YOU THROUGH SCHEDULING AN APPOINTMENT.
AND OF COURSE YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE OPTION TO WALK UP TO ANY OF OUR LOCATIONS AND GET YOUR THIRD DOSE.
IF YOU ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, PRE-REGISTRATION JUST MEANS YOUR WEIGHT MIGHT BE A WEE BIT SHORTER.
UM, AND WITH ALL THIS, YOU KNOW, THE MAIN FOCUS OF OUR OPERATIONS WILL STILL BE ON THOSE THAT ARE UNVACCINATED OR NOT FULLY, UM, VACCINATED.
WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR MEDIA AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UM, WE, WE ARE, UM, USING WHAT HAS WORKED FOR US IN THE PAST.
WE CONTINUE TO USE OUR PSA'S THAT FEATURE OUR COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS.
UM, WE'VE PARTNERED WITH TRAVIS COUNTY AND CENTRAL HEALTH ON THE LET'S STICK TOGETHER CAMPAIGN.
AND THAT, THAT IS A FULL DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN ON SOCIAL DIGITAL AND TELEVISION ADVERTISING.
AND WE'RE, WE ARE EXPECTING TO START THAT LATER THIS WEEK, WE'VE RESUMED OUR WEEKLY MEDIA Q AND A, THAT GIVES THE MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES TO ASK QUESTIONS AND FOR APH TO PROVIDE A GUIDANCE TO COMMUNITIES.
UM, WE CONTINUE TO RESPOND TO INTERVIEW REQUESTS AND ALSO REQUESTS FROM DIFFERENT BODIES TO GIVE INFORMATION.
UM, WE HAVE OUR APH FACEBOOK PAGE THAT'S AVAILABLE IN SPANISH.
WE'VE WORKED WITH OUR PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE CAPTURED THE CULTURAL NUANCES THAT ARE NECESSARY, UM, TO REACH OUR SPANISH SPEAKING POPULATION.
SO THAT IT'S MORE THAN JUST SIMPLE TRANSLATION.
UH, WE CONTINUE TO SOURCE SUPPORT, AH, TO SUPPORT PPE EVENTS IN COMMUNITY.
AND AT THOSE EVENTS WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, UM, AT TIMES NOT ONLY OFFERING FOOD AND COVERING OTHER BASIC NEEDS, BUT MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE GIVING OUT
[00:40:01]
INFORMATION ABOUT VACCINE AND NOT SIMPLY WHEREVER WE'RE GOING TO BE, WHAT ANSWERING, UM, ANY QUESTIONS THAT WE CAN ABOUT HOW VACCINES WORK AND IMPACTS ON BODIES AND BEING ABLE TO DISPEL ANY FEARS OR DISINFORMATION THAT'S OUT IN COMMUNITY.UM, AND WE ALSO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT OUR MVP OUTREACH, WHICH IS OUR MOBILE VACCINE PROGRAM.
AND THAT, THAT IS A GREAT PROGRAM THAT COMBINES, YOU KNOW, THE, ON THE SPOT EDUCATION WITH VACCINES.
IF YOU GET SOMEBODY AND YOU TALK THEM INTO THE VACCINE, THEY DON'T HAVE TO SAY TO YOU, I'LL, I'LL CALL APH TOMORROW.
YOU CAN GET THAT VACCINE RIGHT THEN AND THERE.
AND AS ALWAYS, I LIKE TO TRY TO END MY SLIDES WITH SOME VISUALS OF OUR APH TEAM IN ACTION.
UM, WE CONTINUE TO BE A FULL SERVICE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
UM, COVID VACCINES OR COVID IS JUST ONE SMALL PART OF OUR OPERATIONS, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE THERE AND SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, THESE ARE SHOTS OF AN EVENT THAT WE HELD AT ST.
JOHN'S, WHERE WE DID FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND PROVIDED PPE AS WELL AS INFORMATION ABOUT VACCINES THIS WEEK, THE TEAM WILL BE AT FIESTA, GROCERY STORE WILL BE AT THE TERRY ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH.
UM, WE'LL BE AT GUS GARCIA, GIVING OUT PPE AND FOOD, AND, UM, WE'LL ALSO BE AT THE EAST AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER.
UM, SO, UH, ANOTHER THING TO MENTION, AND I THOUGHT THERE WAS A SLIDE AND MAYBE I GLOSSED OVER IT WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IMMUNIZATIONS.
THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR WHERE THE SAME FOLKS THAT WHO ARE OUT THERE, UM, WORKING ON COVID ARE GETTING READY FOR, UM, OUR FLU SEASON.
AND SO WE WANT FOLKS TO KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, IT IS THAT TIME.
IF YOU GOT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR, PLEASE GET YOUR FLU SHOT.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT KEEPING OUR SCHOOLS SAFE AND, AND OUR KEEPING OUR KIDS SAFE IN SCHOOLS.
AND SO WE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT TO SUPPORT PARENTS WITH ALL THOSE NECESSARY CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS THAT KIDS NEED TO STAY SAFE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WITH THAT, I'LL END MY REMARKS, UM, AND SAY, THANK YOU TO THE AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH TEAM FOR THE AMAZING WORK THAT YOU CONTINUE TO DO DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
I'LL TURN IT OVER TO CHUCK BAILEY.
AND I THINK WE HAVE DRAWN HIM OVER AT REGUS TODAY.
AND THANK YOU, JUDGE AND MAYOR COURT AND COUNCIL, UH, CHUCK BROTHERTON COUNTY EXECUTIVE FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES, LIKE TO START BY THANKING DIRECTOR STIRRUP AND DR.
WACHS FOR AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, A CONTINUING PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR TRAVIS COUNTY COLLABORATIVE, UH, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH OF COURSE, IS TRAVIS COUNTY'S, UH, PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT AS WELL.
UH, BUT, UH, THE, THE APH TEAM, UH, IS DOING SO MUCH WORK IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, AND THE PARTNERSHIP THAT WE'VE ESTABLISHED WITH THEM I THINK IS, IS PROVIDING TREMENDOUS VALUE.
THE TESTING THAT APH IS ABLE TO DO, UH, THEY HAVE SIGNIFICANT CAPACITY AMONG THEIR TEAMS AND, AND THE FACT THAT THEY CAN FOCUS ON TESTING AS WELL AS DELIVERING VACCINES ALLOWS OUR SOMEWHAT SMALLER COUNTY, UH, EFFORT TO CONTINUE FOCUSING EXCLUSIVELY ON VACCINATING OUR COMMUNITY.
SO AGAIN, UH, WE APPRECIATE THE PARTNERSHIP THIS MORNING.
UH, COURT WILL HEAR FROM, UH, CHIEF KEN BAILEY WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, ESD 11, AS WELL AS FROM A DRAWN MOWER.
GERONIMO IS, UH, THE CHIEF ADVOCACY OFFICER, UH, WITH ASCENSION SETON ASCENSION SETON HAS BEEN, UH, THE COLLABORATIVE'S KEY CLINICAL PARTNER, UH, THROUGHOUT OUR VACCINATION EFFORTS, UH, THAT BEGAN BACK IN JANUARY.
UH, SO AT THIS TIME I WILL TURN IT OVER TO CHIEF BAILEY JUDGE.
I'M NOT HEARING FROM CHIEF, SO PERHAPS, UH DRANAMO IF YOU'RE READY, CAN YOU PROCEED? I AM READY.
ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS, UH, DENTED BROWN COUNCIL MEMBERS AND MAYOR ADLER, UM, AS CHUCK MENTIONED, UH, I SERVE AS THE ADVOCACY OFFICER FOR ASCENSION TEXAS.
AND IN THAT ROLE, THE MEDICAL RESPONSE UNIT, THAT'S PROVIDING THE VACCINATIONS REPORTS TO ME.
AND, UH, I HAVE TO SAY THAT, UH, THE LAST TIME I WAS WITH YOU ALL, I TALKED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS, TEAMWORK, AND COLLABORATION.
I THINK YOU'RE SEEING IT WITH, UH, ADRIAN AND DR.
WALKS AND CHUCK'S, UM, COMMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS AS ALWAYS THE GOAL OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY MOBILE VACCINE COLLABORATIVE IS THE SAME, THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OUR COMMUNITY BY PROVIDING BARRIER FREE
[00:45:01]
VACCINES WITH AN EQUITABLE APPROACH, TO OUR HARD TO REACH AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.THIS LAST WEEK, THE MOBILE VACCINE COLLABORATIVE DATA GAVE OUT A TOTAL OF 1,688 SHOTS, 967 WERE SECOND DOSES.
AND FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, THE COLLABORATIVE HAS GIVEN A TOTAL OF 6,771 SHOTS TO OUR HIGH COVID 19 AFFECTED COMMUNITIES.
AND IN THAT SAME MONTH, OUR OUTREACH TEAMS HAVE CONTACTED A TOTAL OF 7,133 PEOPLE.
1,200 OF THOSE WERE CONTACTS DONE BY DIRECT MAIL.
AND AS WE CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON AREAS IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT AND ZIP CODES AFFECTED BY COVID-19 OBVIOUSLY 7 8 6 1 7 8 6 1 7 IS ON TOP OF MIND.
RIGHT NOW WE CONTINUE TO PUSH FORWARD TO EDUCATE PEOPLE IN THE HARDER TO REACH AREAS, TO GET VACCINATED AND TO WEAR MASKS.
AND THE COLLABORATIVE WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR CITY AND COUNTY PARTNERS AND LOCAL NON-PROFITS FOR ALL THE HARD WORK THEY'RE DOING IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND JUST IN THE PAST WEEK, WE WANT TO THANK TAX ASSESSOR COLLECTOR, BRUCE L FONT COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THE NSF WENT THIS GREG CASAR COMMISSIONERS, MARGARET GOMEZ, JEFF TOURBILLION, BRIDGET SHEA, AND ANN HOWARD FOR ALL THEIR HELP, JUST IN THE LAST WEEK.
AS I MENTIONED, WE ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE OBVIOUSLY, COUNTY JUDGE ANDY BROWN FOR CONTINUING TO HELP PROVIDE ACCESS TO OUR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
WE ARE NOW PROVIDING FIVE TEAMS OF SIX STAFF MEMBERS, FIVE DAYS A WEEK, AND COMING UP THE TRAVIS COUNTY MOBILE VACCINE COLLABORATIVE, WE'LL BE FOCUSING ON PFLUGERVILLE, THE FOCAL LOCAL SUPERMERCADOS COMMUNITIES, UH, MUSTANG RIDGE, AND CREEDMORE, THE MEXICAN CONSULATE
IN CLOSING, I KNOW WE'RE HEADING INTO LABOR DAY, AND I JUST WANT TO SHARE SOME WORDS OF APPRECIATION FOR THE DAY IN DAY OUT WORK WELL OVER 100 INDIVIDUALS FROM PRECINCT FOUR IN THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE, ESD 11, ASCENSION, TEXAS, THE TRAVIS EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER AND THE NATIONAL GUARD FIVE DAYS A WEEK, SENDING OUT FLYERS DOING MOBILE CLINICS, THE WEEKENDS AT THE EXPO CENTER.
AND I JUST WANT TO RECOGNIZE CHUCK BROTHERTON, PATRICK GEORGE MORALES, CHIEF BAILEY FRED COME TO TOBY HATTON, APRIL BERGE, AND JOHN LAWLER FOR ALL OF THEIR WORK.
IF I COULD JUST ADD A COUPLE OF POINTS AND I APOLOGIZE, CHIEF BAILEY DID LET ME KNOW THAT HE WOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE.
UH, I SIMPLY MISSED IT, UH, IN HIS EMAIL THIS MORNING.
SO, UH, SO MY FAULT, UH, BUT I JUST WANTED TO UPDATE THE COURT ON, UH, ON OUR, UH, THE COLLABORATIVES, UH, BOOSTER PLANNING, AS YOU HEARD FROM DIRECTOR STIRRUP, UH, APH IS, IS ALREADY PROVIDING, UH, THIRD DOSES TO THE, UH, IMMUNOCOMPROMISED.
IT'S BEEN A FAIRLY SMALL UPTAKE TO THIS POINT, UH, BUT WE ARE DOING THAT NOW AT OUR EXPO DRIVE-THROUGH AS WELL AS, UH, IN OUR STRIKE TEAM, UH, EFFORTS.
UH, BUT WE ARE PLANNING FOR, UH, A LARGER EFFORT, UH, LATER IN SEPTEMBER, UH, AS THE PUSH BEGINS, UM, IN, ON SEPTEMBER 20TH, WE WILL BE PRE PREPARED AT EXPO, UH, WITH THE LARGER FOOTPRINT MORE RESOURCES.
UH, WE'RE TAKING THE APPROACH, UH, INITIALLY TO, UH, WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS THAT, UH, COMMUNITY CARE, UH, WHO WERE WITH US AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS, UH, BACK IN JANUARY, UH, THE INITIAL DRIVE-THROUGH EFFORTS THAT WE DID AT THE CONSTABLE PRECINCT FOR OFFICE IN JANUARY AND EARLY FEBRUARY, UH, THE GROUP OF PATIENTS THAT APPEARED THERE WILL BE CONTACTED BY COMMUNITY CARE, UH, TO SIGN UP FOR THEIR THIRD DOSES, UH, AT THE ROSEWOODS ERA GOES TO A CLINIC THAT IS OPERATED BY COMMUNITY CARE.
UH, AND WE'RE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT THE RESPONSE IS TO THAT OUTREACH, UH, SEE WHAT THE UPTAKE IS, AND THAT IS WE'RE HOPING THAT WILL GIVE US AN INDICATION FOR WHAT WE MIGHT EXPECT, UH, GOING FORWARD INTO SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER FOR THE PATIENTS THAT WE SAW AT THE CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS, UH, COMING BACK TO US AT EXPO, UH, FOR THEIR THIRD DOSES.
SO, UH, WE ARE STAFFING UP, UH, MAKING PREPARATIONS TO BE READY TO HANDLE SIGNIFICANT MEMBERS.
UH, AND WE ARE HOPEFUL, UH, THAT THE UPTAKE IS OF COURSE BROAD.
UH, THIS WEEK WE ARE STANDING UP A CALL CENTER.
I'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THAT WITH Y'ALL EARLIER, UH, AS THE COLLABORATIVE BEGINS, UH, GROWING OUR IN-HOME VACCINATION EFFORT, UH, WITH OUR FIELD TEAMS, UH, PUTTING LITERATURE ON, ON, ON DOORKNOBS, UH, WITH INFORMATION AND A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL BACK IN.
[00:50:01]
UH, IF YOU CANNOT, IF PEOPLE ARE UNABLE TO, UH, GET TO GET TO ONE OF OUR VACCINE LOCATIONS, THEN WE WILL WORK WITH THEM TO DELIVER, UH, VACCINATION IN THEIR HOMES.AND A CALL CENTER IS BEING STOOD UP THIS WEEK AT OUR CLERK'S OFFICE.
WE'D LIKE TO THANK THE COUNTY CLERK, UH, FOR, UH, PROVIDING THAT STAFF AND THE SPACE, UH, AND THAT WILL BE, UH, SPINNING UP THIS WEEK TO BEGIN RECEIVING THOSE CALLS AT 8 5, 4 SHOT.
UH, THAT NUMBER HAS BEEN ACTIVE, BUT THOSE CALLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY CONSTABLE FOUR'S OFFICE.
UH, BUT WE WILL BEGIN TRANSITIONING THAT NUMBER OVER TO THE CALL CENTER, UH, AGENCY MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR ALL OF THE GREAT WORK THAT THEY ARE DOING AT EXPO, AS WE HAVE EXPANDED THE, THE SERVICES THAT ARE AVAILABLE AT THE COUNTY EXPO, UH, LOCATION, IN ADDITION TO OUR DRIVE-THROUGH VACCINATION EFFORTS THAT CONTINUE EVERY WEEKEND, UH, WE ARE NOW ALSO DOING, UH, AS YOU HEARD FROM, UH, DR.
WALKS AND DIRECTOR STIRRUP, UH, WE ARE DELIVERING OR PROVIDING SPACE FOR, UH, THE REGIONAL INFUSION CENTER, UH, FOR THE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY TREATMENTS.
UH, IN SEPTEMBER WE EXPECT AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, UH, TO BEGIN DOING TESTING, UH, AT OUR DRIVE-THROUGH LOCATION AT EXPO.
UH, AND THEN WE WERE ALSO MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR, SHOULD IT BE NEEDED, UH, FOR AN ALTERNATE CARE SITE, UH, OUT AT THE EXPO AS WELL.
SO ALL OF THAT WORK IS HAPPENING AT THAT SINGLE LOCATION, UH, ON DECKER LANE.
UH, AND AGAIN, OUR OEM TEAM, UH, IS DOING INCREDIBLE WORK, BUT AGAIN, IT'S ALSO IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, WITH ASCENSION SETON, UH, AND OTHER CLINICAL PARTNERS THAT ARE WORKING WITH US, INCLUDING THE STATE.
UH, AND FINALLY, JUST A NOTE THAT WE DID 6,500 SHOTS THROUGH OUR STRIKE TEAMS IN AUGUST.
UH, THAT'S UP FROM 4,500 IN JULY.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD INDICATOR THAT THE DEMAND FOR, FOR VACCINE, UH, CONTINUES TO GROW, UH, AND THAT WE, UM, THAT OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS, UH, ARE SUCCEEDING ALL THAT SAID WE WILL BE STANDING DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY, UH, FOR THE LABOR DAY HOLIDAY SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY, THIS COMING WEEKEND, UH, TO GIVE OUR HARDWORKING TEAMS A VERY WELL-DESERVED BREAK.
BUT WITH THAT SAID, I WOULD LIKE TO JUST SHARE AS I, AS I LIKE TO DO SHARE WITH COURT, UH, AND COUNCIL, UH, OUR ONLINE VACCINATION, UH, INFORMATION THAT'S THAT'S READILY AVAILABLE, UM, AT THE TRAVIS COUNTY WEBSITE AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WEBSITE, AND ALSO@VACCINES.GOV.
SO ON THE TRAVIS COUNTY'S TRAVIS COUNTY'S LANDING PAGE ONLINE CLICK ON EITHER UP HERE IN THE UPPER LEFT, WE'RE HERE, GET YOUR COVID 19 VACCINE, AND IT TAKES YOU VERY QUICKLY TO, UH, OUR CALENDAR.
AND YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THE DIFFERENT EVENTS, UH, BOTH APH, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY COLLABORATIVE, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE COMMERCIAL SITES THAT ARE OPERATING TODAY, TUESDAY, AUGUST 31ST CLICK ON ANY ONE OF THESE, AND YOU WILL GET THE LOCATION INFORMATION, UH, THE TYPE OF VACCINE THAT'S AVAILABLE, THE HOURS OF OPERATION.
UH, SO AGAIN, VERY CONVENIENT, LIKE TO THANK OUR WEB TEAM AND OUR, AND OUR, UH, PUBLIC INFORMATION FOLKS FOR PULLING THAT TOGETHER ON AUSTIN, TEXAS.GOV, UH, CORONAVIRUS COVID 19.
THIS IS THE CITY'S LANDING PAGE.
AGAIN, FIND A LOCATION FOR FREE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE READILY AVAILABLE WITH JUST A CLICK OR TWO, UH, AND THEN@VACCINES.GOV FOR FOLKS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN FINDING, UH, A LOCAL PHARMACY, UH, VACCINES.GOV HAS ALREADY INFORMATION BASED ON ZIP CODE, FIND COVID-19 VACCINES TYPE IN YOUR ZIP CODE, AND A MAP POPS UP WITH ALL OF THE, AGAIN, COMMERCIAL PHARMACIES THAT ARE, THAT ARE DELIVERING VACCINATIONS.
UH, AND THAT'S IT FOR US, JUDGE.
WE'LL NOW TURN IT BACK TO YOU AND THE MAYOR FOR QUESTIONS.
SO WE'LL GO AHEAD THROUGH THE QUESTION PORTION, AND AS ALWAYS OF LATE, WE'VE GOT A PRACTICE AGENDA AFTER THIS.
UM, SO IF WE COULD TRY TO KEEP IT TO ONE QUESTION H AND I'LL START WITH, UH, LET'S SEE, MR. GOMEZ, SHE HAS ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS I JUST HAVE, UM, UM, I'M SO THANKFUL TO EVERYBODY WHO HAS, UM, REALLY GIVEN A LOT OF THEIR HOURS AND TIME AND ATTENTION TO, TO GETTING PEOPLE VACCINATED, UH, WHICH IS THE, THE MAIN GOAL OF OUR EFFORTS.
AND, UM, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS, EVEN IF IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME, UH, BUT, UH, WE'RE GETTING THERE AND WE'RE REACHING MORE PEOPLE AND I'M, I'M MOST APPRECIATIVE OF THE COLLABORATIVE TEAM,
[00:55:01]
OF COURSE, UH, FOR, UH, ALL OF THEIR THEY'RE FOCUSING ON THIS ISSUE AND, AND, AND REACHING A LOT OF FOLKS ARE HARD TO REACH AND, AND, UM, SO I'M MOST APPRECIATIVE AND MOST THANKFUL TO EVERYONE FOR ALL OF THEIR EFFORTS.UM, I AGREE WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER GOMEZ AND, AND, UH, FOR MY WEEKLY, THANKS TO ALL OF THE STAFF, UM, AND OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ARE, UM, DEVOTING SO MUCH TIME TO TRY AND KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE.
UM, COULD WE JUST GET A SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHT OF THE NUMBER OF, UM, NEW INFECTIONS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS THAT ARE FROM UNVACCINATED? UM, I SAW SOME PERCENTAGES ON THE SCREEN.
THEY DIDN'T SQUARE WITH WHAT I WAS HEARING, AND I'M NOT, I'M NOT COMPLETELY CLEAR WHAT THAT IS IS THAT ROUGHLY 90% OF PEOPLE HOSPITALIZED 80%, IF YOU CAN JUST RE HIGHLIGHT JUST THOSE STATS.
AND THEN, UM, WHAT IS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF, UM, CASES OF INFECTION IN OUR, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY SCHOOLS? THAT'S THE OTHER THING I THINK THAT IS JUST SO INCREDIBLY ALARMING AND I DON'T, I DON'T EVEN HAVE WORDS FOR HOW RECKLESS AND DANGEROUS IT IS THAT THE GOVERNOR IS PREVENTING SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM REQUIRING MASKS FOR A POPULATION IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL THAT LEGALLY CANNOT BE VACCINATED.
I JUST THINK IT'S, IT'S OUTRAGEOUSLY DANGEROUS AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE, MANY PEOPLE JUST SEEM TO ACCEPT IT.
I THINK IT'S APPALLING AND HE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERY ONE OF THOSE CHILDREN THAT ENDS UP IN A HOSPITAL, UM, COMMISSIONER, UM, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE IN HOSPITAL, UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, FOR THE PERIOD OF TIME, THE AUGUST 16TH THROUGH THE 29TH, UM, ARE 841.
AND WE HAVE REPORTED 81%, UM, UNVACCINATED, HOWEVER, 369, UM, ARE REPORTED WITH AN UNKNOWN STATUS.
AND SO THAT NUMBER IS LIKELY HIGHER, UM, UH, WITH REGARDS TO THOSE THAT ARE UNVACCINATED, UM, WHEN WE GET THERE, IF I, IF I CAN JUST RESTATE.
SO I HEARD CLEARLY, CAUSE IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO HEAR.
81% OF THOSE IN THE HOSPITAL ARE UN-VACCINATED AND THERE'S THREE ARE CON CONFIRMED TO BE UNVACCINATED.
HOW MANY WHO ARE UNCONFIRMED? AND I HAVE TO SAY, ARE WE NOT ABLE TO, UM, WHEN PEOPLE COME INTO THE HOSPITAL, ARE WE NOT ABLE TO GET THAT MEDICAL INFORMATION ON THEM AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE VACCINATED? THERE'S A RECORD OF IT.
WE, WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION FOR MOST CASES, BUT IT'S NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE THE RECORDS, UM, FOR CERTAIN PROVIDERS FOR BETTER VACCINATING OR DELAYED AS WITH REGARDS TO THEIR ENTRY INTO AMTRAK.
SO, UM, WE DON'T ALWAYS HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
SO THE, UM, THE INFORMATION THAT I'M GETTING USED, THE INFORMATION THAT'S BEEN VETTED BY OUR EPIDEMIOLOGY TEAM.
UM, SO I KNOW FOR CERTAIN 81% ARE UNCONFIRMED AND VACCINATED, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THE PERCENTAGE IS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN THAT BECAUSE WE CAN'T VERIFY YES.
MA'AM VACCINATION STATUS FOR HOW MANY WAS IT? 300 AND 365 CAN'T CONFIRM.
AND THEN, UM, WITH REGARDS TO THE, THE CASES IN THE, IN THE SCHOOLS RIGHT NOW, UH, FOR THE PAST WEEKS REPORTING, THERE WERE 817 CASES.
TOTAL 694 WERE IN STUDENTS AND 121 WERE STAFF CASES, TWO OR OTHER CASES, UM, LIKELY JANITORIAL, UM, AND KITCHEN STAFF.
UM, WE HAD 17,240, UM, IDENTIFIED AS CLOSE CONTACTS WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE QUARANTINING.
HOWEVER, QUARANTINE IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS, UM, SUPPORTED BY THE CURRENT TA GUIDANCE OR A LOT OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
SO THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT QUARANTINING THEIR CHILDREN OR THEMSELVES.
I DID NOTICE THAT THE, THE FEDERAL, UM, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS PUT ON NOTICE A NUMBER OF STATES WHOSE, UH, POLICIES
[01:00:01]
THEY BELIEVE MAY INDICATE, INDICATE PEOPLE'S CIVIL RIGHTS, UM, BECAUSE OF THIS, UH, RECKLESS PROHIBITION ON MASS SQUARING IN SCHOOLS.AND I DIDN'T SEE THAT TEXAS WAS ON THAT LIST.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY WE WOULDN'T BE? I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT.
MA'AM WELL, WE SHOULD, WE CERTAINLY SHOULD BE ON THAT LIST.
UM, UH, FIRST OF ALL, ONCE AGAIN, LET ME THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE EFFORTS THAT, THAT HAVE BEEN MADE, UH, TO REACH OUT ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
IT IS CLEAR THAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE.
UH, HOWEVER, WHEN I, WHEN I LOOK AT THE MAP AND I SEE ALL THE GREEN, AND THEN WHEN I LOOK AT THE NUMBERS AND SEE THAT THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IS STILL UNDER 40%, UH, IT TELLS ME THAT SOMETHING ELSE IS NEEDED AS WELL.
AND I, AND I THINK THE SAME THING IS TRUE FOR THE LATIN X COMMUNITY AS WELL.
I KNOW THAT WE ARE MAKING EFFORTS, I'M NOT TAKING ANY DIGS AT THE EFFORTS THAT WE'RE MAKING.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO BUILD UPON THE TOOLS THAT WE HAVE EVERY WEEK.
AND I'M INTERESTED IN KNOWING, UH, WHAT HAVE WE DONE IN THE LAST WEEK TO EXPAND OUR REACH INTO THE TRUSTED COMMUNITY, UH, TRUSTED COMMUNITY LEADERS.
I HAVE A RECOMMENDATION, BUT I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT WE DID LAST WEEK.
THAT WAS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE DID THE WEEK BEFORE.
I WOULD SAY THAT WE TRUTHFULLY HAVE DONE ANYTHING THAT IS DIFFERENT.
UM, BUT WE CONTINUE TO EXPAND THE PARTNERSHIPS AND TALK ABOUT WAYS WE CAN INVEST IN COMMUNITIES AS A ONE-OFF.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE IS A PROVIDER THAT HAS A GOOD PROGRAM THAT COMBINES VACCINATION WITH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, AND SHE'S PARTNERED WITH ANOTHER HISTORICALLY, UH, SERVING BLACK ORGANIZATION.
AND SO HOW DO WE LEVERAGE EXISTING CONTRACTS WITHIN APH TO EITHER AUGMENT THEIR SERVICES OR TO HAVE THEM PIVOT SO THAT THEY ARE, UM, USING THEIR PLATFORMS TO EITHER GIVE INFORMATION OR TO DRIVE PEOPLE TO, TO VACCINES.
I, I WILL HAVE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, AMONGST PARTNERS IN THE BIG CITIES, UH, COALITION, AND THOSE ARE HEALTH DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, THAT WE'RE ALL HAVING THE SAME ISSUE.
HOW DO YOU UNDO YEARS OF MEDICAL RACISM IN A FEW SHORT WEEKS TO GET THE OUTCOME THAT, THAT YOU DESIRE? UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE THOUGHT IS FROM THE EXPERTS THAT THERE IS NO QUICK AND EASY FIX.
UM, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT FOR OUR COMMUNITY, UM, OUR EFFORTS ARE MIRRORING WHAT WE'RE SEEING ACROSS THE COUNTRY WITH RESPECT TO THE DISPARITIES THAT WE'RE SEEING IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATIN X COMMUNITIES.
SO HAPPY TO HEAR ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU HAVE COMMISSIONER.
SO I APPRECIATE THAT BECAUSE THERE'VE BEEN A NUMBER OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN VENDORS THAT I HAVE BEEN PUSHING TOWARDS, UH, TRYING TO WORK WITH THE SYSTEM AND MANY HAVE FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO ACCESS IT.
UH, AND, AND, UH, AND MANY OF THEM HAVE STELLAR RECORDS AND WORK IN THE COMMUNITY FOR A LONG TIME.
AND I'VE HAD DIFFICULTY DOING BUSINESS WITH US, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ADDRESSED.
AND I THINK WE HAVE, I THINK JUDGE, WE HAVE A MEETING LATER THIS WEEK TO ADDRESS THAT SPECIFIC THING.
UH, BUT WHAT, WHAT I'M PROPOSING IS, AND, UH, WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR FUSE EXECUTIVE INTERN, UH, TO, UH, TO ADDRESS THIS IS TO PUT TOGETHER A LISTENING TOOL IS TO, OFTENTIMES WE SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WE ARE DISMISSIVE OF REASONS THAT, UH, FOLKS DECIDE PARTICULARLY MINORITIES DECIDE THAT THEY MAY NOT WANT TO TAKE THE TEST OR TAKE IT, UH, TAKE A VACCINE.
UM, I WANT US TO SIT DOWN WITH, WITH, UH, SPECIFIC CHURCHES, ORGANIZATIONS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM THE COMMUNITIES, UH, FROM THE LATIN X COMMUNITY, FROM THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY, FROM THE ASIAN COMMUNITY, AND, UH, GET FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY, PROCESS IT THROUGH OUR NETWORK OF PROFESSIONALS AND THE FOLKS THAT ARE WORKING IN THE FIELD AND REDOUBLE OUR EFFORTS TO REACH OUT TO THOSE COMMUNITIES.
BECAUSE I THINK, I THINK IF WE WORK WITH OUR COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS LIKE CHURCHES, AND I KNOW THAT WE'VE DONE SOME OF THAT, AND IF WE WORK WITH OUR DOCTORS WHO ARE RELIED UPON BY A LOT OF PEOPLE IN CHURCHES AND IN NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WE CAN, UH, WE CAN GO A LITTLE
[01:05:01]
FURTHER, DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THE COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN HARD TO REACH AND HARD TO SERVE.SO WE'RE SPECIFICALLY PUTTING TOGETHER A LISTENING TOUR AND, UH, I WOULD, I WOULD INVITE ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT TO DO SO.
AND I SPECIFICALLY WANT TO GET, UH, THE, YOUR, UH, YOUR SUPPORT PERSONNEL, UH, FROM, UH, FROM, UH, DOCTOR WALKS AND, AND, AND, UM, IN THE STIRRUP AS WELL TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR OFFICE IS COORDINATING WITH YOU.
SO WE'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT, AND THAT THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE DOING, WE CAN TALK TO THE COMMUNITY AS WE, AS WE BLANKETED AND TAKE, MAKE A PUBLIC EDUCATION EFFORT, UH, TO NOT TO QUESTION WHY PEOPLE DON'T, UH, DON'T WANT TO TAKE THE T UH, THE SHOT, BUT TO GIVE THEM MORE AND BETTER INFORMATION TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS SAFE.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER COMMISSIONER HART.
AND, UM, COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN, THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOU COULD GET SOME BASE DATA ALSO FROM WHAT THE, THE, THE DATA THE CITY HAS BEEN COLLECTING ON THE INCENTIVE PROJECT, BUT I THINK THEY'VE BEEN ASKING SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS, AND MAYBE YOU CAN TEST, YOU KNOW, THERE COULD BE A DESIGN TO TEST SOME OF THAT IN THE COMMUNITY.
THANK YOU TO, UM, YOU KNOW, STAFF WHO'VE BEEN WORKING SO HARD AND ALSO JUST WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE SERVING AS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'M HEARING THAT THIS IS JUST SOME OF THE MOST DIFFICULT WORK EVER, AND FOR ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, INVOLVED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR A LONG TIME, UM, IT'S ALWAYS HARD, BUT THIS APPARENTLY IS JUST A CHALLENGE.
AND I JUST WANT TO, UM, APPRECIATE PEOPLE FOR BEING SERVANTS OF THE COMMUNITY IN A TIME WHEN IT'S HARD.
AND, UM, WE'RE NOT DONE YET, SO WE'VE GOT TO KEEP IT UP.
UM, JUST WANT TO BACK UP WHAT COMMISSIONER TRILLIAN BROUGHT UP.
I KNOW THAT HE AND I, AND HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS FOR, FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AND TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS IN, IN LIVING.
YOU KNOW, IF, IF CAPACITY IS A LIMIT ON WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THESE TRACK TEAMS, LET'S FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET MORE CAPACITY ON IT.
UM, I THINK THAT THE WORK THAT, UH, HAD ONLY MO DESCRIBED THAT CHIEF BAILEY AND CONSTABLE MIRALIS AND THE COUNTY TEAM AND ASCENSION AND OTHERS ARE DOING IS AMAZING WORK AND IT'S NEEDED, AND IT'S DOING REALLY GREAT, GREAT STUFF.
AND WE CAN SEE THAT IN THE NUMBERS THAT THEY'RE INCREASING EACH WEEK, UH, IN THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE ARE TRYING TO GET THE NUMBERS UP IN.
UM, IF WE'VE HIT, IF WE'RE AT A PLACE WHERE THAT'S THE, THE CAPACITY WHERE WE ARE FOR THAT, LET'S LOOK AT OTHER POTENTIAL VENDORS AND THE NOTE COMMISSIONER TO REALLY, AND YOU AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS A LOT AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE SOME ACTION ON THAT.
UM, WITH THAT I WILL PASS IT ON OVER TO, UH, THE MAYOR AND, UM, AND THE CITY COUNCIL.
WE'RE AT TO START COLLEAGUES THIS TIME WITH, UH, DISTRICT TAD WORKING OUR WAY TO THE MAYOR PRO TAB.
UH, I WANT TO CALL FOR HER FOR ALISON.
UH, I KNOW SHE'S TRAVELING AND WAS WATCHING THIS, UH, ESPECIALLY CODE WASN'T SURE IF SHE BEEN ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE.
UM, SO WE WOULD GO THAT TO KATHY TOBIN.
AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR STAFF AND OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR ALL THE TREMENDOUS CONTINUED WORK.
I WANTED TO ASK OUR AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, IF THEY COULD PROVIDE US WITH AN UPDATE, IF IT'S AVAILABLE ON THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TO ADDRESS THE WEST CAMPUS AREA OF STUDENTS AND THE STUDENT POPULATION, GENERALLY AGAIN, 7, 8, 705 CONTINUES TO BE AT YELLOW ON THE MAP.
AND I KNOW WE WANT TO BE SURE THAT OUR, OUR COLLEGE STUDENTS CENTER OTHERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ARE, ARE WELL VACCINATED.
I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES.
I KNOW THAT UT CONTINUES TO LEAD THOSE EFFORTS AND AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH IS SUPPORTING AS NEEDED.
UM, THEY'RE TESTING ALL STUDENTS BEFORE THEY COME BACK ON CAMPUS AND THEY SEEM TO BE SELF-CONTAINED WITH THEIR EFFORTS TO VACCINATE OR DRIVE, UH, STUDENTS TO VACCINATION RESOURCES WITHIN COMMUNITY.
BUT I CAN, UM, I KNOW STAFF IS LISTENING AND THEY USUALLY SEND ME A TEXT.
WHEN I SAY I CAN'T ANSWER THAT RIGHT AWAY.
SO IF THERE IS SOMETHING NEW I EXPECT WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE TO 10 MINUTES, I'LL HAVE A MORE
[01:10:01]
SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSE FOR YOU.AND CAN YOU GIVE US SOME SENSE? I KNOW THERE'S CONVERSATIONS EACH WEEK AND ON THE WEBSITE ABOUT REQUESTING A MOBILE, A MOBILE VACCINE CLINIC, CAN YOU GIVE US SOME SENSE OF HOW MANY INDIVIDUALS, LIKE, WHAT KIND, WHAT, UM, FOR WHAT SIZE GROUPS IS THAT AN APPROPRIATE METHOD? SO IF, IF THERE SOMEBODY WATCHING WHO WANTS TO SCHEDULE A MOBILE VACCINE CLINIC, AT WHAT SCALE, YOU KNOW, WHAT SCALE OF, OF AUDIENCE WOULD YOU LIKE FOR THEM TO HAVE BEFORE THEY REACHED OUT TO APH TO DO SO? YOU KNOW, I, I THINK WE, WE JUST WANT TO GET THE SHOTS IN THE ARM.
SO WE'LL WORK WITHIN WITH FOLKS TO ACCOMMODATE IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EVENT WHERE THERE'S HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, WELL THEN NO, THAT'S NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THE MOBILE VACCINE TEAM THAT WOULD TAKE SOME MORE PLANNING AND DIVERSION OF RESOURCES.
WE PROBABLY CALL ON OUR PARTNERS AT THE COUNTY TO SEE IF THEY CAN ASSIST.
UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE BEEN TO CONSTRUCTION SITES, THEY'VE BEEN TO DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS TO EMPLOYEES.
UM, WE'VE BEEN OUT TO CAP METRO.
WE'VE BEEN TO DIFFERENT FACILITIES.
AND SO IT'S, I DON'T WANT TO GIVE A HARD AND FAST RULE BECAUSE WHEREVER WE CAN MAKE IT WORK, UM, WITH THE COMMUNITY RESIDENTS TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES, THAT IS OUR GOAL.
BUT I WILL SAY IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HUNDREDS OF FOLKS, THAT THAT WOULDN'T BE AN APPROPRIATE USE OF THOSE RESOURCES.
BUT THAT'S HELPFUL THAT HELPS US GET A SENSE OF SCALE FOR THOSE MOBILE UNITS.
UH, LET'S GO THEN TO A COUNCIL MEMBER, ELLIS MAYOR.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER UPDATE ON THE TIMELINE EXPECTED FOR THE VACCINES FOR ZERO TO FIVE AND FIVE TO 12? I KNOW EVERY WEEK WE'RE ALWAYS WANTING MORE INFORMATION, BUT I WANTED TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY MORE EXPECTATION OF THOSE BEING READILY AVAILABLE ANYTIME SOON.
WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR, UH, THE COMPLETION OF THE DATA THAT THEY'VE REQUESTED TO CHECK ON SAFETY.
SO, UM, IT STILL STANDS AND IT'S GOING TO BE SOMETIME BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, BUT WE'RE NOT SURE WHEN IS THERE ANY EXPECTATION THAT IT MIGHT COME SOONER RATHER THAN LATER, YOU HAVEN'T HAD ANY WORD THAT IT WOULD BE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER? OKAY.
UM, I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF, OF FOLKS WHO ARE TRYING TO KEEP THE KIDS SAFE IN THE SCHOOLS.
AND ESPECIALLY AS SOMEONE WHO REPRESENTS AREAS OF AISD AND IAN'S ISD, I KNOW THEY'VE HAD TO GET VERY CREATIVE WITH HOW THEY'RE KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE AND SEPARATING THE ONES WHO ARE WEARING MASKS FROM THE ONES WHO ARE NOT WEARING MASKS, JUST TO TRY TO MINIMIZE SPREAD OVERALL.
UM, I KNOW THERE WAS AN UNFORTUNATE SITUATION WHERE A PARENT TOOK A MASK OFF OF A TEACHER WHO WAS WEARING ONE, AND THAT IS COMPLETELY UNCONSCIONABLE AND NOT WHAT WE NEED TO BE DOING AS, AS A GROUP WHO IS TRYING TO MAKE SURE OUR CHILDREN ARE EDUCATED AND SAFE.
AND SO THAT BEHAVIOR IS UNACCEPTABLE.
UM, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN AND WORKING WITH OUR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE KEEPING KIDS SAFE, WHO CAN'T GET VACCINATED YET.
IF WE COULD LOOK AT THE VERY FIRST SLIDE FROM DR.
WACHS PRESENTATION, I NOTICED THAT IT LOOKED LIKE THE, UM, THE SPIKE WAS BEGINNING TO RETREAT A WEE BIT, AND I WANTED TO ASK, IT LOOKED LIKE THE LONGEVITY OF IT WAS SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS SPIKES.
IF YOU COULD JUST TOSS THAT SLIDE BACK UP THERE AND MAYBE HELP US, UM, WITH A LITTLE BIT OF INSIGHT INTO WHAT YOU THINK THAT MAY BE SHOWING US.
I THINK I PICKED THE RIGHT SLIDE.
IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THERE'S A PLATEAU THAT'S UM, AND WE ARE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THAT.
THE CONCERN THOUGH, HOWEVER, IS THAT OUR ICU ADMISSION STILL REMAIN HIGH.
AND, UM, THE COURSE OF COVID IS SUCH THAT, UM, PEOPLE MAY BE AN ICU ON VENTILATOR FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AND SAME AS THOUGH THEY'VE TURNED THE CORNER AND THEN WE'LL HAVE, UH, MORE DEATHS OCCURRING.
AND WE ARE STARTING TO SAY SOME INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF DEATHS, UM, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE AND BECAUSE THE POPULATION REPRESENTED NOW ARE, ARE YOUNGER.
UM, WE ARE SEEING, UH, TWENTIES AND 30 YEAR OLD PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WERE PASSING AWAY.
SO THAT, THAT IS A BIG CONCERN.
[01:15:01]
UM, BUT YES, THAT CURVE DOES APPEAR AS THOUGH IT'S TURNING DOWNWARD.AND WE'RE HOPING THAT IF WE CAN CONTINUE THE EFFORTS THAT HAVE WORKED SO WELL IN THE PAST WITH OUR SCHOOLS, UM, USING, UM, DISTANCING MASKING, ET CETERA, THAT WE WON'T HAVE MORE CASES IN THE YOUNGER AGE POPULATION THAT CHUNKED BETTER CHILDBEARING AGES, UM, THAT WE'LL CONTINUE TO SEE THAT GO DOWN ON.
IT REALLY IS GOING TO TAKE THAT, UM, LEFT HAND WORKING WITH THE RIGHT HAND, THE DOMINO EFFECT, UM, BEING STOPPED BY MASKING.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
AND, AND LAST, UH, DO YOU ALSO THINK THAT THIS MAY BE, UM, A CONCRETE, UM, EXAMPLE OF THE OUTCOMES OF THE ADDITIONAL PUSH THAT WE ARE HAVING TO GET MORE PEOPLE VACCINATED, WHICH I, I THINK IT WAS EITHER, UM, IT WAS ONE OF THE OTHER SPEAKERS AFTER YOU AND DR.
ONE OF THE GENTLEMEN SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THE, UM, THE INCREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE AND THE NUMBERS OF JOBS IN THE ARMS THAT HAPPENED JUST IN THE LAST A WEEK TO 10 DAYS.
UM, WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING IMPROVEMENT IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE GETTING THE VACCINATION WOULD THAT ALSO TEND TO BE PROVEN OUT BY, BY THESE NUMBERS DROPPING, UM, THE VACCINES, IMPACT'S GOING TO BE MORE OF A LONGER TERM EFFECT.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THAT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT GOING FORWARD, BUT REALLY THIS IS COMMUNITY BEHAVIOR CHANGE.
THIS IS, UM, OUR PARTNERS WORKING IN BUSINESS AND, UM, IN SCHOOLS AND JUST ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY, WORKING TOGETHER TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE ARE MASKING SOCIAL DISTANCING.
THIS IS PEOPLE STAYING HOME, DOING CURBSIDE, ALL OF THAT'S, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN THAT CURVE ON.
AND THE MORE WE DO THAT, THE SOONER WE'LL GET OUT OF THIS, THE VACCINES ARE GOING TO HELP US SUSTAIN THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE SEEN.
UM, MY QUESTION TODAY REALLY HAS TO DO WITH OUR UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS.
I'M JUST WONDERING, IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE WE TALKED ABOUT THE STRATEGY TO REACH THEM AND OUTREACH, THAT'S BEING DONE TO PROVIDE VACCINES TO THEM.
SO I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD UPDATE US ON THAT.
WE ARE IN COMMUNICATION WITH, UM, THE HOMELESS SHELTERS AND WITH THE COMMUNITY CARES PHYSICIANS AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS THAT PROVIDE CARE TO, UM, INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE UNSHELTERED AND HOMELESS AND WE'RE MONITORING, UM, THE SITUATION THERE WE'RE, UM, ASSISTING WITH TESTING AND HAVE OFFERED TO, UM, THE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY.
WE'RE ALSO PROVIDING, UM, ISOLATION FACILITY, UM, ACCESS TO OUR UNSHELTERED AND HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE EITHER, UM, POSITIVE TESTING, POSITIVE OR CLOSE CONTACTS OF THOSE IN SHELTERS WHO'VE BECOME POSITIVE.
AND A VAST MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN OUR, WITH THAT FACILITIES RIGHT NOW ARE PEOPLE THAT ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.
UM, JUST AS A FOLLOW-UP, COULD YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT SOME OF THE BARRIERS MIGHT BE, OR SOME OF THE OBJECTIONS THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE UNSHELTERED OR HOMELESS MIGHT HAVE TO GETTING THE VACCINE? THERE ARE MANY OF THE SAME CONCERNS THAT WE'RE HEARING IN OTHER PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY, UM, AND SOME JUST DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANY KIND OF VACCINATION.
UM, BUT THE, OUR PARTNERS THAT ARE WORKING IN HEALTH CARE AND THAT I'M PART OF OUR COMMUNITY ARE, UM, TRYING TO, UM, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AND PROMOTE VACCINATIONS WHEN THEY CAN.
UM, I WANNA SAY, I APPRECIATE ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE ASKED AND IT'S REALLY HELPED.
UM, I THINK IT HELPS INFORM THE PUBLIC.
UM, AND AS MANY OF THE QUESTIONS I WOULD ASK, I DO HAVE, UM, TWO RELATED KIND OF QUESTIONS THAT, THAT HAVE TO DO WITH, UM, INFORMATION OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT THE COMMUNITY, UM, CAN TRUST.
CAUSE THERE'S A, SO ONE RELATES TO, UM, TO VARIANCE.
I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE SEEING SO FAR IN OUR COMMUNITY.
OF COURSE, WE'RE ALL VERY FOCUSED RIGHT NOW ON THE DELTA VARIANT,
[01:20:01]
BECAUSE THAT'S, WHAT'S IN FRONT OF US WITH THE, THE SPIKE THAT WE'VE SEEN THAT HAS SENT US TO, UM, TO PHASE FIVE HOPEFUL INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW ABOUT ADDRESSING THAT.BUT WE ARE SEEING AROUND THE WORLD, OTHER VARIANTS COMING, UH, COMING, UH, UP NOW.
SO CAN YOU JUST SPEAK TO TWO THINGS? UM, ARE WE SEEING ANY OTHER VARIANTS IN OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW? AND THEN CAN YOU JUST SPEAK TO THE IMPORTANCE FROM A, UM, COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE OF VACCINATIONS AND MASKING AND WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY TO MAKE US LESS BULL VULNERABLE, UH, TO, TO VARIANCE, UM, AS WE, AS WE GET PAST THIS, GET PAST THIS, UH, WAVE, CERTAINLY, UM, AT THIS POINT, THE PREDOMINANT VARIANT IS THE DELTA VARIANT.
WE'VE NOT HAD ANY REPORTS OF ANYTHING NEW ON THE HORIZON HEADED OUR WAY.
UM, YOU BRING UP AN EXCELLENT POINT.
UM, THAT'S DONATIONS WILL PROTECT PEOPLE FROM BECOMING INFECTED AND THE ABILITY FOR THIS VACCINE, THIS VIRUS TO MUTATE OCCURS WHEN IT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO INFECT SOMEONE, TO PLAY WITH ITS DNA, AS IT REPRODUCES AND CHANGE HOW IT, UM, IT LOOKS, ACTS, RESPONDS, AND CAN BE FOUGHT AGAINST BY OUR VACCINES.
SO THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYBODY PROTECTING THEMSELVES WITH VACCINATIONS AND NOT BE OVERSTATED BECAUSE WE DO NOT WANT TO GIVE THIS VIRUS THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE ITSELF, TO BECOME A STRONGER VARIATION OF ITSELF.
AND VACCINATIONS ARE REALLY THE KEY TO THAT.
AND THEN MY SECOND RELATED QUESTION REAL QUICK QUESTION IS, UM, I'M, I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND WHERE PEOPLE CAN LOOK FOR AND WHAT ROLE, IF ANY, THE CITY CAN TAKE, UM, IN ADDRESSING MISINFORMATION THAT'S OUT THERE.
AND WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT SPECIFICALLY IS I DON'T KNOW THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE'RE SEEING THIS IN OUR COMMUNITY, ALTHOUGH I I'VE HAD A FEW INDICATIONS OF IT, UH, BUT ALSO WE'RE SEEING IT NATIONWIDE ABOUT, UM, UM, THE MISINFORMATION THAT'S OUT THERE THAT'S REALLY TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE'S FEARS AND PEOPLE'S DESIRE TO BE SAFER.
UH, SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE, THE SUGGESTION THAT OZONE, UM, TOOLS OR, UM, UM, DEVICES CAN BE USED, UH, TO MAKE PEOPLE SAFER.
WHEN IN FACT, THERE'S A LOT OF, OF, UH, INFORMATION OUT THERE ABOUT THE DANGERS THAT USING OZONE DEVICES CAN CREATE FOR PEOPLE.
SO THERE'S THAT, AND IN THAT THERE'S INFORMATION WE'RE HEARING, WHICH I'VE HEARD MORE NATIONALLY, BUT ABOUT, UH, PEOPLE TAKING DRUGS THAT ARE NOT INTENDED, YOU KNOW, A WHILE BACK, WE WERE DOING KIND OF DRUG THAT A PRESIDENT HAD MENTIONED, BUT NOW WE'RE STARTING TO HEAR A DRUG WAS REALLY INTENDED FOR HORSES BEING DISCUSSED.
IS THERE A PLACE, DO YOU SEE A ROLE FOR APH, AT LEAST ON OUR WEBSITE TO TRY TO START, WE HAVE INFORMATION TO DEBUNK THESE KINDS OF MISINFORMATION THAT'S OUT THERE JUST TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S PLACES THAT THEY CAN LOOK.
I KNOW THERE'S A NATIONAL, THERE ARE NATIONAL EFFORTS GOING ON, BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT YOU ALL ARE SEEING LOCALLY AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU THINK FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO, YOU KNOW, TO PUT INFORMATION OUT THERE.
I DON'T THINK IT'S OUR, NOT ONLY OUR PLACE, IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUBLIC HAS APPROPRIATE INFORMATION.
AND SO I'LL, I'LL LET DR WACHS TALK ABOUT THE SPECIFICS, BUT I BELIEVE THAT EVERY OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE DANGERS OF THOSE HOMEGROWN REMEDIES, UM, WE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT.
UM, MY PREFERENCE IS TO STAY AWAY FROM THE WEBSITE AND REALLY USE THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND APPROACH IN COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS UNDERSTAND THE DANGERS, UM, AT THE DIRECTION OF ACM, UH, HAYDEN HOWARD, WE'RE GOING TO EXPAND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PUSH TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AS WELL, AND HAVE A WHOLE CAMPAIGN AROUND DISPELLING THESE DANGEROUS MYTHS.
SO YES, TH THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I THINK THAT, THAT, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
AND I WILL SHARE WITH YOU WHAT I'M HEARING IN CASE IT'S RELEVANT FOR INFORMATION THAT YOU ALL NEED TO SEND OUT.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, APPRECIATE THE WORK, LOOKING INTO HOW OUR INCENTIVE PROGRAM HAS WORKED.
I SHARED THIS WITH THE FOLKS AT AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, UH, RECENTLY, BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE IN HARRIS
[01:25:01]
COUNTY, THERE WAS A REALLY SIGNIFICANT, UH, BUMPING UPTAKE FOR THEIR INCENTIVE PROGRAM.THEY HAD FEWER PEOPLE, PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE VACCINATED WHEN THEY LAUNCHED THEIRS AND OURS, SO THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO IT.
BUT I THINK WE MAY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY IF WE UP THE INCENTIVE, UM, TO REALLY GET A BIG EARNED MEDIA BUMP, JUST TALKING TO ELECTED OFFICIALS IN HARRIS COUNTY AND, AND COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS THERE, IT SOUNDED LIKE THERE WAS JUST A, A REAL SENSE OF REALLY FAST.
THERE IS RIGHT NOW, THIS PARTICULAR INCENTIVE AND IT CREATED THIS SENSE OF, OF URGENCY.
SO IF IN LOOKING AT THEIR PROGRAM AND OTHER PROGRAMS, WE SENSE THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO INCREASE OURS FOR A LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME.
I'D JUST SAY IT MIGHT BE GOOD FOR, FOR ALL OF US TO PARTICIPATE AND FOR US TO GET ROPED IN TO, UM, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S A HIGH LEVEL OF AWARENESS, UM, AROUND ANY INCREASED INCENTIVE THAT WE MIGHT PROVIDE SO THAT WE, SO THAT IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF THE INCENTIVE, BUT ALSO THE NUMBER OF FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT WOULD BE AWARE OF THAT, OF, OF THE URGENCY AND THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF INCENTIVE, BUT POTENTIALLY AT AN INCREASED LEVEL.
SO, UH, OF COURSE WE SHOULD DO WHATEVER THE DATA IS POINTING US TOWARDS, BUT IF IT DOES POINT US TOWARDS THE IDEA THAT MAYBE WE DO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF INCENTIVE ON THAT FIRST SHOT, I THINK THAT THE ANNOUNCEMENT, UM, MY IS PROBABLY MIGHT BE WORTH JUST ABOUT AS MUCH AS THE INCENTIVE IS WORTH.
SO, UH, NOW THAT WE'RE IN THIS MEETING TOGETHER WITH ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES AND THE, EVERYBODY AT THE COUNTY, THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY ALL WANT TO FOCUS ON THAT MOMENT, UM, IF, IF THAT TIME COMES OKAY, THANK YOU.
I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY, I AGREE.
AND THAT, YOU KNOW, ONE THING TO NOTE IS THAT HARRIS COUNTY IS WELL BELOW THE 70% MARK.
SO I THINK THERE'S SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE POPULATION THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE TRYING TO REACH.
UM, AND ANY INCIDENT, I AGREE THAT WE SHOULD DO MORE INCENTIVES, BUT I REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE USING THAT, UM, TO WORK IN OUR AREAS DEL VALLEY AND THE OTHER PLACES WHERE WE'RE NOT SEEING THE UPTAKE THAT WE NEED.
SO TOTALLY AGREE, BUT I, I BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE A MORE FOCUSED APPROACH VERSUS WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN HARRIS COUNTY, SINCE THEY'RE, THEY'RE STILL TRYING TO GET TO THE 70% MARK.
THAT MAKES GOOD SENSE TO ME DIRECTOR.
UM, MY QUESTION IS, UH, I'VE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF, UH, PEOPLE IN THEIR, UH, INTEROPERATE AGE, 60 TO 80 THAT ARE BEING ADMITTED INTO A HOSPITAL.
DO YOU KNOW WHETHER THESE, UH, SENIORS ARE, UM, HAVE BEEN VACCINATED OR ARE THEY'RE THE ONES THAT, UH, OR, OR ARE THEY IN NURSING HOMES? I, I, I, I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT HOW MANY ARE THERE HAVE BEEN ADMITTED THAT HAD BEEN VACCINATED? SO THE DATA THAT WE HAVE SHOWS THAT 81% ARE UNVACCINATED, UM, I DON'T HAVE IT BROKEN DOWN, UH, SPECIFICALLY BY AGE AND VACCINATION STATUS AT THIS POINT, BUT THE OVERALL MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE ALMOST ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE NOTED RIGHT NOW ARE UN-VACCINATED.
AND THE ONES THAT I MENTIONED FROM THE NURSING HOMES THAT ARE, UM, HAVING THE MILD DISEASE AND HORRIBLE VACCINATED ARE HAVING JUST THAT MILD DISEASE.
UM, AND THOSE WILL BE THE PEOPLE THAT OFTENTIMES WOULD BE IMMUNE COMPROMISED AS WE AGE OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM DOES NOT, UM, HAS HAVE AS A ROBUST RESPONSE TO THE, SO THIS WILL BE THE TIME FOR BILL SCREENSHOTS SHOTS FOR THEM.
SO THAT, THAT THAT'S GOING TO BE UNDERTAKEN IN THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS.
I'M SURE ABOUT NURSING HOMES AND THERE'S A BIG, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, I I'VE HEAR LIKE EVEN THE GOVERNOR GOT HIS THIRD SHOT, UH, THE PRIORITY RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF THEIR AGE AND, AND, UH, AND THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM, UH, SHOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY FOR THEM TO, SO THE, THE, THE CHOICE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN CAN BE MADE BY THEIR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.
AND I, YOU KNOW, I'M ASSUMING THAT THAT'S GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS AS THE SHOTS ARE STARTING TO BE GIVEN, UM, IN THAT DIRECTION FOR JADA MINISTER, THAT WAS TO THE SENIORS.
[01:30:01]
UH, IS IT AN EIGHT, UM, OR, I MEAN, WHO, WHO DECIDES WHEN THEY GET IT? PROVIDERS CAN GIVE IT NOW.AND THERE HAVE BEEN OVER A MILLION PEOPLE THAT HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN THEIR VACCINE, THEIR THIRD DOSE.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S HAPPENING ONGOING RIGHT NOW.
SO, UM, EVERYBODY STARTED TO GIVE THE THIRD SHOT.
CAUSE I HAVEN'T HEARD EXACTLY HOW THEY COULD JUST GO OUT AND GET IT.
NOW I HEAR THAT THERE'S A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT IT, BUT THAT IT'S MORE LIKE A LIFT WEIGHT.
AND I LIKE, IS IT FOR, YOU'RE WAITING FOR TWO WEEKS BECAUSE I NEED TO GET EVERYTHING SET UP.
LIKE IF I WANTED TO GO AND GET MY BOOSTER SHOT, COULD I JUST CALL MY DOCTOR AND SAY, HEY, YOU TAKE YOUR SHOT IF HE HAS IT.
SO THE WAY IT'S SET UP RIGHT NOW, IT'S FOR IMMUNE COMPROMISED PEOPLE.
AND THERE'S A DEFINITION THAT'S GIVEN FOR THAT.
UM, AND SO PEOPLE CAN WALK INTO A PHARMACY AND SELF ATTEST TO SAY THAT THEY'RE IMMUNE COMPROMISED AND GET THE VACCINATION.
THAT'S HOW SOME INDIVIDUALS ARE GETTING IT.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS SAID THAT AS, AS OF THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, UM, THEN WE CAN START DOING THE THIRD SHOT OR THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE EIGHT MONTHS OUT.
BUT AGAIN, UM, NO, ONE'S NO ONE'S REQUIRED TO PROVE THAT THEY'RE IMMUNE COMPROMISED NOR THAT THEY ARE EIGHT MONTHS OUT FROM THEIR SHOTS.
SO WE'RE GOING TO SEE PEOPLE GOING TO GET THE SHOT, UM, AND YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT THEM GETTING THE SHOT AND IT'S GOING TO BE A LOT LESS ORGANIZED THAN IT WAS, UM, IN PREVIOUS ROLLOUT THAT WE HAD EARLIER IN THE YEAR.
THANK YOU, COUNSELOR FOR THIS.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, LAST WEEK COUNCIL ADOPTED A, A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A BOOSTER SHOT PLAN.
JUST GETTING TO THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU JUST HIGHLIGHTED IN THE RESPONSES WE RECEIVED AND KNOWING THAT IT IS ONCE THE BOOSTER SHOTS BECOME WIDELY ACCESSIBLE, WE NEED A CONCERTED APPROACH AND A PLAN THAT'S ROOTED IN EQUITY.
SO THAT WE'RE ENSURING THAT OUR MOST VULNERABLE KNOW ABOUT THE BOOSTER, KNOW ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE THAT THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT AND THAT WE HAVE A PLAN, UH, TO BE EQUITABLY DISTRIBUTING THOSE VACCINES.
AND SO, UM, AND PART OF THAT RESOLUTION CALLS FOR US LOOKING AT LESSONS LEARNS FROM THE INITIAL VACCINE ROLLOUT AND THAT WE CONTINUE TO BUILD OFF OF OUR COLLABORATIVE APPROACH THAT WE'VE HAD.
I WAS REALLY THRILLED TO HEAR FROM THE TRAVIS COUNTY COLLABORATIVE, UM, YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS AND ALREADY PLANNING TO REACH OUT TO THOSE WHO ARE VACCINATED IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY FROM THE PRECINCT FORESIGHT, FROM THE CODE SITE, YOU KNOW, KNOWING THAT YOU'RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT, OKAY, WHAT DOES THAT OUTREACH LOOK LIKE? UM, IS MUSIC TO MY EARS.
AND SO I'M EXCITED TO HEAR MORE FROM APH ON WHAT OUR EFFORTS WILL LOOK LIKE, UM, WHEN IT COMES TO THAT BOOSTER SHOT STRATEGY.
AND, YOU KNOW, JUST ALSO TO KNOW THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT ONLY THE BOOSTER SHOTS GETTING NO SHOTS OUT, BUT ONCE THE FDA APPROVED VACCINES FOR LITTLEST AUSTINITES, THAT'S ALSO GOING TO CREATE AN INCREASED DEMAND.
SO WE COULD BE IN A POSITION IN JUST A FEW WEEKS OR IN A FEW MONTHS THAT CALLS ON US TO BE VACCINATING, UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE AT A GIVEN TIME.
AND SO WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE ALL OF THESE PIECES COORDINATED, NOT JUST WITH APH, BUT WITH THE PRIVATE PROVIDERS AND OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS ALL AS A WHOLE WORKING TOGETHER TO GET OUR COMMUNITY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS PANDEMIC.
UM, THE QUESTION I ALSO WANTED TO MENTION, UH, COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN.
I LOVE YOUR IDEA OF A LISTENING TOOL AND HAVING THAT OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FEEDBACK FROM OUR COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, JUST SEEING THE CHART WHERE WE CAN VERY CLEARLY SEE HOW OUR, UH, BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN DISPROPORTIONATELY DYING FROM COVID, UM, HAVING THAT LAID OUT, IT JUST GETS TO THE IMPORTANCE THAT WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE BEING PROACTIVE IN OUR, UM, APPROACH.
AND THEN MY QUESTION IS AROUND THE VACCINE INCENTIVES, UM, AND JUST TO ECHO WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER CASSARA WAS SAYING, WE REALLY NEED TO THINK ABOUT INCREASING, UM, OUR INCENTIVE, KNOWING THAT WE HAVE TO BE MORE FOCUSED AND TARGETED IN OUR APPROACH.
WE'VE ALREADY HAD MORE THAN 1600 OF OUR INCENTIVES UTILIZED BY AUSTINITES.
SO WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE GETTING OUT THERE, THEY ARE WORKING, UM, UT ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE DOING A WEEKLY $10,000 CASH RAFFLE, UH, FOR THOSE WHO ARE, WHO GET
[01:35:01]
VACCINATED.AND I KNOW HTA IS ALSO CONSIDERING THEIR VACCINE PROGRAMS, BUT I'D ALSO JUST LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE DO HAVE OTHER, UH, STAKEHOLDERS ON ACL ALSO DID A VACCINE INCENTIVE THAT FILLED UP VERY QUICKLY, 1200 SLOTS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, SO THERE ALSO SOME, SOME GOOD INFORMATION AND DATA WE CAN CAPTURE FROM THOSE TYPES OF VACCINE PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING ROLLED OUT.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UH, AN INCREASE AMOUNT FROM A $50 GIFT CARD TO A HUNDRED DOLLARS CASH.
I THINK THAT WOULD HELP US REALLY MOVE THE NEEDLE IN THOSE TARGET AREAS WHERE WE HAVE LESS THAN, UM, 50% FULLY VACCINATED, UM, AND, UH, DIRECT STIRRUP.
I WAS GLAD TO HEAR THAT WE DID A SURVEY OF THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE APH VACCINE PROGRAM.
WOULD YOU MIND SHARING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ANY FEEDBACK THAT YOU HAVE FROM THAT SURVEY AND THE DATA THAT'S BEING COLLECTED? ANY HIGHLIGHTS THAT WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF? UM, I, I, MY PREFERENCE IS TO, UH, THE PERFECTIONIST IN ME IS TO HAVE A COMPILED RESULTS AND PRESENT AT THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, ANECDOTALLY WHAT THE STAFF HAS SHARED WITH ME IS THAT MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT SHOWED UP FOR THE INCENTIVE, THIS WASN'T THE THING THAT SWAYED THEM.
IT WAS THE THING THAT JUST MADE THEM MAKE THE APPOINTMENT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
AND SO WE, WE NEED TO LOOK AT WHAT THAT SWEET SPOT OF IS, UH, ABOUT.
WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO CHANGE SOMEONE'S MIND ABOUT THE VACCINE AND, AND, AND WHAT I'M HEARING FROM MY COLLEAGUES ACROSS THE REGION AND IN OTHER PLACES IS THAT, YEAH, INCENTIVES, AREN'T CHANGING, ANYBODY'S MIND.
IT'S JUST MAKING THAT MOVEABLE MIDDLE MOVE A LITTLE BIT FASTER TO GET THE VACCINE.
UM, AND SO WE'LL HAVE A FULL REPORT OUT OF THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR YOU AT THE NEXT MEETING.
I DO WANT TO GO BACK TO SOME OF THE COMMENTS YOU MADE ABOUT THE BOOSTER.
AND SO WHEN WE ROLLED OUT VACCINE, WE RELIED ON TRUSTED COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEY USE THEIR LIST TO GIVE US NAMES AND INFORMATIONS OF FOLKS THAT NEEDED HELP SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS.
AND THOSE PARTNERS HAVE BEGUN TO REACH OUT TO US AGAIN, UM, UH, TO PREPARE FOR THAT WE'VE INCREASED THE CAPACITY OF THE EQUITY CALL CENTER.
AND WE'RE ALSO ENGAGING 3, 1, 1 AGAIN, SO THAT WE HAVE ADDITIONAL PHONE RESOURCES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN ACCOMMODATE EVERYONE FROM AN EQUITY PERSPECTIVE WHO DOESN'T HAVE THE TIME OR THE ABILITY OR THE TECHNOLOGY TO SCHEDULE SOMETHING ONLINE TO THAT END.
UH, WE ARE STILL OFFERING, WALK UP APPOINTMENTS WITH THE CAVEAT THAT YOUR, YOUR PROCESS WILL GO A LITTLE FASTER BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE TO REGISTER WHEN YOU COME ONSITE, BUT YOU'RE NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO THE EQUITY LINE OR NOT HAVING AN ACCESS TO A COMPUTER IS NO LONGER A BARRIER WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE ONLINE PLATFORM.
WE HAVE THE LANGUAGES IN PLACE WE CONTINUE TO MAKE.
SO THAT IT'S, USER-FRIENDLY WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE PD SHOTS, THE CONVERSATION THIS MORNING WITH THE TEAM WAS WE DON'T WANT FOLKS TO HAVE TO MAKE AN EMAIL FOR A FIVE-YEAR-OLD, WHAT CAN WE DO IN AUSTIN HEALTH FORCE? SO THAT FOLKS THAT ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT CAN HAVE KIND OF LIKE A CUSTODIAL ACCESS FOR THEIR KIDDOS TO, UM, GET A SHOT.
AND LASTLY, WITH BEING PROACTIVE WITHIN OUR ECW SYSTEM.
AND THAT INCLUDES ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WE SEE IN OUR SAFETY NET PROGRAMS THAT, THAT FALL IN THE CATEGORY OF, YOU KNOW, DISPROPORTIONATELY, UM, IMPACTED BY A DISEASE OR OTHER FACTORS IN COMMUNITY WE'RE DOING, WE'RE PREPARING TO DO PROACTIVE CALLING TO THOSE FOLKS, NOT ONLY FOR THE BOOSTER, BUT ALSO TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR FIRST AND SECOND DOSES OF THE SHOT.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY LESSONS LEARNED, LIKE I SAY TO PEOPLE ALL THE TIME WHEN I WAS A KID, I ONLY WANTED TO GET THAT PUNISHMENT ONE TIME, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO PUNISH ME A SECOND TIME, BUT IT SURE WASN'T GOING TO BE FOR THE SAME THING.
AND SO, UM, I AM A BIG PROPONENT OF LESSONS LEARNED AND THAT THE TEAM IS ACTIVATING THAT AS WELL AS LEARNING FROM WHAT'S GOING ON IN OUR REGION AND ACROSS THE NATION WITH THAT.
SO THANK YOU FOR DAYLIGHTING THOSE THINGS DURING THIS CONVERSATION TODAY, AND YOUR LEADERSHIP ON THE RECENT ITEM FROM COUNCIL AND MUCH APPRECIATED, THANK YOU DIRECTOR, AND THANK YOU FOR, FOR YOUR RESPONSES AND YOUR FEEDBACK.
I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
AND SO I JUST WANT TO EXTEND MY GRATITUDE AND THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR ALL THAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO HEAR THAT TYPE OF WORK SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND, AND THEY CAN HEAR AND KNOW ABOUT THE IMPORTANT WORK THAT OUR PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS DOING.
AND I'M JUST, AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, AND I WILL JUST WANT TO REFRAME A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT YOU MENTIONED ABOUT HOW THE INCENTIVES, UH, ARE HELPING PEOPLE GET SCHEDULED.
I THINK THAT IS AN, UH, CLEAR INDICATOR THAT THE VAC, THE INCENTIVES ARE WORKING, UH, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY ARE IN A RACE AGAINST TIME RIGHT NOW, TRYING TO GET AS MANY PEOPLE VACCINATED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO IF THESE VACCINES ARE THE LITTLE
[01:40:01]
TIPPING POINT THAT HELPED PEOPLE GET SCHEDULED AND NOW WE'RE GETTING THEM, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE DOOR A LOT SOONER.AND THEN I THINK THAT'S A GREAT INDICATION THAT THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM IS WORKING.
UM, ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES AT THE COUNTY AND, AND ON THE COUNCIL HAVE ALREADY ASKED ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT I COULD HAVE ASKED AND EXPRESSED ALL THE CARES, FEARS AND CONCERNS THAT I SHARE.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE BRIEFLY TWO STORIES THAT, UM, THAT I'M THINKING THROUGH WHEN WE HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT, UM, WHAT INSPIRES PEOPLE, WHAT WILL ACTUALLY PERSUADE SOMEBODY TO GET THIS SHOT? I TALKED TO SOMEBODY YESTERDAY, UM, AN ARTIST IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD WHO WAS HESITANT TO GET VACCINATED, UM, HAD HESITATED AND ONLY RECENTLY LAST WEEK THAT THEIR FIRST DOSE AND ONLY DID SO BECAUSE THEY WERE DISALLOWED FROM VISITING THEIR PARENTS.
THEIR PARENTS SAID, HEY, THIS IS A CHOICE THAT YOU'VE MADE, AND WE APPRECIATE IT THAT YOU WANT THE AUTONOMY TO MAKE THIS CHOICE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR LIFE.
UM, BUT WE NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT THIS CHOICE AFFECTS THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU, INCLUDING YOUR FAMILY.
SO YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO VISIT UNTIL YOU ARE FULLY VACCINATED.
UM, HIS BROTHER WOULDN'T SIT IN THE SAME ROOM WITH HIM.
HE GOT VACCINATED BECAUSE HE MISSED HIS FAMILY.
UM, ALSO I WANTED TO SAY MUCH LIKE MANY PARENTS OF COVID KIDDOS.
YOU KNOW, OUR, ESPECIALLY OUR MIDDLE SCHOOLER REALLY STRUGGLED LAST YEAR, REALLY STRUGGLED AND SEEING THE DIFFERENCE THE NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE IN MY NOW 12 YEAR OLD THAT SHE'S ABLE TO BE AROUND HER FRIENDS AND HAVE THAT SOCIAL INTERACTION THAT IS SO CRITICAL TO THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND THIS DEVELOPMENTAL PERIOD OF THEIR LIVES.
AND I WANT HER TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO GO TO SCHOOL.
SO WHEN I'M TALKING TO FOLKS ABOUT WHAT MIGHT JUST MOTIVATE THEM, UM, I'M PUTTING OUT THERE LIKE FOR MY TWELVE-YEAR-OLD TO KEEP SMILING AND COMING HOME AND TELLING ME SILLY STORIES, AND I WANT HER TO CONTINUE TO BE HAPPY.
SO PLEASE, FOR MENTAL HEALTH ROOM, PLEASE CONSIDER GETTING THE VACCINATION SO THAT WE CAN KEEP EVERYBODY SAFE AND HEALTHY AND WELL, AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY GET BACK TO DOING THE THINGS THAT MAKE US HAPPY AND HELP US THRIVE.
SO I WONDER IF THERE'S A WAY TO NOT MAKE IT TOO PERSONAL AND REALLY JUST SCALE THOSE KINDS OF STORIES, UM, AND IN OUR ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH.
AND THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'VE PUT INTO KEEPING US INFORMED SO FREQUENTLY, IT'S VERY HELPFUL.
I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I TELL PEOPLE TO GO BACK AND WATCH THE JOINT WORK SESSION, UM, FOR THEM TO REALLY GET THE MOST ACCURATE UP-TO-DATE DATA.
WAS THERE TWO GREAT, GREAT STORIES HAVE THANK YOU.
UM, I WANT TO THINK AS WELL AS EVERYBODY ELSE HAS THIS ARMY OF PEOPLE WHO WE JUST SUCH A PHENOMENAL WORK, UH, ONE ADDITIONAL ONE THAT, UH, THAT WASN'T, UH, NAMED, UH, UH, DR.
UH, THOMAS, UH, HARRY THOMAS, I THINK HE HAS A HUNDRED PHYSICIANS SIGNED UP ON HIS, UH, VOLUNTEER LIST, ALSO OUT GIVING VACCINES.
I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE WITH HIM AND HIS CREW, UH, GIVING VACCINES.
YOU COULD CHARGE HIM WITH AL GWEN, UH, THIS PAST WEEKEND.
UH, I GUESS BEFORE THIS, I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN WITH THAT GROUP, UH, BEFORE PROBABLY OTHERS OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE, UM, THEY WERE ABLE TO HAVE ACTUALLY HAD A HUNDRED PEOPLE, UH, WHEN THEY WERE THERE.
RODEO, UH, WITHOUT WHEN REALLY JUST PHENOMENAL WORK, TWO THINGS, UH, RETRO STARTUP.
I THINK THAT ANECDOTALLY, THEY WERE SAYING, WORKED OUT THEIR RUN WAS, IT WAS CASH, UH, $50 IN CASH GOT, UH, PEOPLE GOING.
I, I NOTE THAT IT USED TO WHILE THEY WERE EVEN USING A CARD, IT WASN'T JUST TIED TO ONE STORE.
IT WAS LIKE A VISA CARD THAT PEOPLE COULD SPEND ANYWHERE.
UM, SO I JUST GIVE YOU THAT ANECDOTALLY, AS YOU'RE DOING THAT, UH, THAT, THAT KIND OF COMPARISON WORK, THE OTHER ONE IS, UH, TO YOUR POINT TOO, THAT SOMETIMES IT MAY BE MORE THAN THE INCENTIVE OF WED WAS LITERALLY CALLING EVERYBODY THAT, UH, WAS A CANDIDATE.
THEY WERE CALLING IT LIKE EVERY DAY, UH, IN THE LEAD UP TO THAT EVENTS THAT YOU REMEMBER, IT'S THREE DAYS.
REMEMBER IT'S TWO DAYS REMEMBER, UH, IT'S UH, TOMORROW.
[01:45:01]
UH, THE POINT WE'VE BEEN HEARING ALL ALONG FROM COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER COSARA, AND MANY OTHERS IT'S THAT TRUSTED VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY, BUT WE'RE HEARING FROM ADVOCATES THAT HAVE COME TO US, OBVIOUSLY SEEM TO BE WORKING, BUT I JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT THOSE GROUPS OUT AS WELL, DR.STOVER, IAN, WHAT OF THE REPORT PAGES THAT YOU HAVE PAGE 19 OF THE PRESENTATION, WHICH IS THE VACCINE DATA FOR TRAVIS COUNTY BY RACE AND ETHNICITY SHOWING HOW IT'S WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE MOST RECENT TIME PERIOD? I CAN'T FIGURE OUT IF I COULD GET THE CHART, WHAT THE TIME PERIOD IS.
IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S AS OF AUGUST 29TH.
UH, BUT I CAN'T TELL, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL VACCINES THAT WERE GIVEN, I THINK IT WAS, UH, UH, 11001ST DOSES AND 12002ND DOSES.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME PERIOD, THE SIXTH COLUMN AND THAT COLUMN R I'M PULLING IT UP ON MY SCREEN HERE.
SOME OF THE DATA THAT WE SEE THAT AS IT REPORTS, TELL US NUMBERS BY RACE AND ETHNICITY GOING WAY BACK, UH, AND YOU ALL ARE, ARE GETTING MORE FOCUSED AND, AND BETTER AS YOU LEARN EXPERIENCES OVER TIME.
SO LOOKING AT SOME OF THE NUMBERS TO SEE HOW WE'RE DOING MORE RECENTLY, I THINK, UH, IS AN INDICATION OF WHETHER IN FACT, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING BETTER AT MEETING GOAL.
AND SO I'VE MISSED, I SAY THAT BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT THE HIDDEN CREASE FOR FIRST DOSES, BY RACE AND ETHNICITY, UH, THE INCREASE IN PERCENTAGE, THE PERCENTAGE INCREASE FOR THE BLACK POPULATION IS 53% HIGHER THAN THE INCREASE FOR THE WHITE POPULATION.
AND THE INCREASE FOR THE HISPANIC POPULATION FOR THE FIRST DOSE IS 90% HIGHER THAN THE INCREASE FOR THE WHITE POPULATION OR ON SECOND DOSE, IT'S SIMILAR INCREASE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
UH, SECOND, THOSE FULLY VACCINATED IN WHATEVER THIS TIME PERIOD IS, IS 37% HIGHER THAN THE INCREASE, UH, UH, WHITE COMMUNITY AND HISPANIC COMMUNITY.
IT'S 74% GREATER THAN THE INCREASE OF WHITE COMMUNITY.
YOU KNOW, WHAT TIME PERIOD WE'RE LOOKING AT? I BELIEVE THAT'S CUMULATIVE OR AS FOR ACCURACY.
IT'S THE ADDITIONAL 11,818 PEOPLE THAT HAVE GOTTEN ONE DOSE.
AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT PERIOD OF TIME IT WAS LAST 11,000 WERE OKAY.
OR THEY'RE 12,000 FOR BOTH DOSES.
YOU CAN CHECK ON THAT AND, AND, AND LET ME KNOW WHAT THAT TIME PERIOD IS, CAUSE WHATEVER WE WERE DOING IN THAT TIME PERIOD SEEMS TO BE HAVING A KIND OF RESULTS THAT, THAT YOU'RE LIKE, THAT WE'RE ALL TRYING TO SHOOT FOR AND GETTING TO.
CAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT THE OTHER DOC THAT, UH, UH, DR.
WALKS THAT YOU HANDED OUT, UH, YOU HAD, UH, UH, AGAIN FOR THE MOST RECENT PERIOD OF TIME, UH, WHICH IS THE LAST TWO WEEKS, UH, THE ADMISSIONS, UH, THAT, UH, WE'RE SEEING, UH, BY, UH, BY, BY RACE, UH, FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY APPEARS TO BE 5%, 5% OF THE ADMISSIONS IN THAT PERIOD OF TIME, WHICH IS CLOSER TO THE OVERALL PROPORTION IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE DATA THAT YOU PRESENTED FOR THAT SAME PERIOD OF TIME ON ADMISSIONS FOR ETHNICITY AT, UH, 36% OF THE ADMISSIONS IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS WERE FOLKS, UH, UH, HISPANIC FOLKS, WHICH AGAIN, IS CLOSER TO THEIR PERCENTAGE OF THE COMMUNITY, UH, WHICH AGAIN, MAKES IT LOOK LIKE SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE'RE DOING MAY BE, YOU CAN'T EXTRAPOLATE FROM ONE DATA POINT.
AND I SURE HOPE THAT THAT, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IS ABLE TO MAINTAIN ITSELF.
IF WE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS OF THE ICU, WE SEE THE, THE, THE SAME, SAME THING, UH, 5% ADMISSIONS BY RACE, UH, AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
SO AGAIN, TRACKING THE POPULATION.
UM, SO IF WE COULD CONTINUE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT DATA OVER A MORE RECENT TIME, THAT CUMULATIVE GOING WAY BACK, I THINK THAT IS A GOOD INDICATOR OF THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING AND THE STRATEGIES THAT HAD BETTER THAT ARE B UH, BEING EMPLOYED
[01:50:01]
WITH THAT, UH, JUDGE, UH, I'LL, UH, I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO, TO YOU.UM, YEAH, SO I THINK ALL THIS TO ME, JUST WANT TO REEMPHASIZE AGAIN, THAT WE'RE SEEING THE NUMBERS GOING UP.
I THINK STATEWIDE THE NUMBERS OF THE PAST, UH, SORT OF SURGE PERIOD HAVE GONE UP 11%.
I THINK WE'RE SEEING, UH, PEOPLE, NEW PEOPLE GETTING VACCINATED.
I THINK WE'RE SEEING SIMILAR NUMBERS HERE.
AND SO TO ME, IT MEANS THAT WE NEED TO, AND BASED ON THE SUCCESS OF THE, OF WHAT THE COLLABORATIVE IS SEEING WHEN THEY OFFER THE VACCINES IN THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE WANT TO OFFER THEM TO PEOPLE ARE TAKING THEM NOW.
AND, YOU KNOW, AS SAD AS IT'S OBVIOUSLY A MOTIVATING FACTOR BECAUSE COVID IS SO TERRIBLE IN OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW.
BUT I THINK THE ACTION ITEM FOR US IS TO MAKE SURE WE ARE PROVIDING AS MUCH ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY TO THE VACCINE AS POSSIBLE RIGHT NOW.
AND SO I LOOK FORWARD TO TALKING MORE WITH COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN AND APH AND COUNTY STAFF, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE AT THIS VERY MOMENT WHEN PEOPLE ARE, ARE WILLING TO TAKE THE VACCINE MORE THAN THEY WERE TWO MONTHS AGO, THAT WE'RE TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THAT BY MAKING IT EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE WANT.
I JUST WANT TO, I WANT TO HAMMER THE POINT HOME HERE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE NEVER GO TO THE DOCTOR, UNLESS IT'S ALMOST ON THEIR DEATH BED, BECAUSE WHENEVER THEY GO, THEY STAND IN A LONG LINE AND OFTEN, ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH IT? AND WHAT WE'VE GOT TO DEMONSTRATE IS THAT THERE IS NO HUMILIATION HERE.
THERE'S NO JUDGMENT HERE AND WE WILL SERVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
I CAN'T MAKE THAT POINT HARD ENOUGH THAT SOME PEOPLE NEVER GO TO THE DOCTOR BECAUSE THEY, THEY ARE MADE TO FEEL LESS THAN WHEN THEY DO.
SO WE'VE GOT TO TALK TO PEOPLE WHO CAN LOOK HIM IN THE EYES AND SAY, WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT TO YOU.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP YOU, BUT THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE IT RIGHT OFF THE BAT.
SO IT'S GOING TO TAKE TIME AND EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GIVING THEM A MESSAGE THAT THEY CAN TRUST.
SO I JUST WANT TO HAMMER THAT HOME.
A LOT OF US CAN'T RELATE TO THAT BECAUSE WE'VE ALWAYS GONE TO THE DOCTOR.
THERE'S SOME PEOPLE THAT NEVER GO TO THE DOC AND, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LIVE IN COLONY PARK, YOU GOT TWO BUSES, THEY COME EVERY HOUR AND THEN YOU'VE GOT A RIDE AND CHANGE SEVERAL BUSES BEFORE YOU GET SOMEWHERE THAT WHERE A DOCTOR IS.
SO WE'VE GOT TO THINK ABOUT ALL OF THE BARRIERS, HISTORIC BARRIERS AND WHAT WE'VE GOT TO DO RIGHT NOW TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I NEED YOU, I NEED YOU TO TRUST ME BECAUSE WE WANT, WE WANT TO HELP.
AND, AND THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYBODY ON THIS CALL AND IN PARTICULAR FOR THE PEOPLE OUT IN THE FIELD, GIVING VACCINATIONS AND TESTING AND DOING ALL THE HARD WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK WITH THAT, UM, MAYOR, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO ADJOURN, UH, TILL OR RECESS, I GUESS, TILL 11, TILL 10 AFTER 11.
AND I WILL PASS IT OVER TO YOU TO DO THE SAME.
AND ONE LAST THING, UH, UH, DR.
WALKER, THE, UH, PAGE EIGHT, YOU HAVE THE MORTALITY RATE, UH, OVER TIME PREPARING US TO OTHER URBAN COUNTIES.
YOU ALSO HAVE THAT BROKE IT OUT BY RACE AND ETHNICITY FOR US, IF YOU COULD PROVIDE THAT SAME RACE AND ETHNICITY INFORMATION FOR THE OTHER URBAN COUNTIES.
SO WE CAN SEE HOW OUR, UH, RACES AND ETHNICITIES ARE DOING ALSO RELATIVE TO THOSE URBAN COUNTIES.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE GOOD INFORMATION.
SO BEING ABLE TO SEE THAT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL, UH, AND WITH THAT, UH, UH, JUDGE, WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND, AND, AND, UH, AND OUR MEETING HERE OCTOBER, AUGUST 31ST, WHICH WAY WE'RE ON OUR PORTION OF THE JOINT SESSION COLLEAGUES.
WE HAVE, UH, THE TECHSTOP PRESENTATIONS, WHICH WE'RE TRYING TO JUMP RIGHT ON.
UH, AND WE LOSE, UH, OUR, UH, EXPERTS, UH, OUR COUNCILS FOR ONE OF OUR EXECUTIVE SESSION, RIGHT.
UH, SO WE'RE GOING TO TRY AND WORK QUICKLY TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE TWO THINGS DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME, AND OBVIOUSLY LUNCH, WE TO HAVE TO TRY TO FIT IN THERE SOMEWHERE.
UH, SO, UH, 11, 10 LET'S COME BACK PRETTY QUICKLY TO, UH, HIM WE'RE ADJOURNED.