GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — The Galveston County Health District is now sharing the vaccination status of people who’ve died from COVID-19.
The detail is added to a list of information like a person’s age range, whether or not they had pre-existing conditions and the person’s ethnicity and race.
Based on GCHD press releases and posts shared on their social media pages, it seems the first time the health district included vaccination information was three days ago.
On Facebook, the Galveston County Health District reported the June 9 death of an unvaccinated man between 41 and 51 years old who had preexisting donations conditions.
KHOU 11 was unable to reach anyone within the health district who could answer questions as to why the vaccination status is now listed among identifying information, but Dr. Janak Patel, who is the Director of Infection Control & Healthcare Epidemiology for UTMB, thinks sharing the detail is critical to getting more people vaccinated.
“People think that COVID is gone, perhaps naturally. They don't know how much the role of vaccine has been in this entire battle against COVID,” Dr. Patel said.
As more time passes, more research can be done to study the impact of each COVID-19 vaccine. The Associated Press reports that its journalists analyzed all publicly available data on COVID-19 for the month of May. The AP is reporting “breakthrough” COVID-19 infections of fully vaccinated people accounted for .1 percent COVID hospitalizations. Of the 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May, the AP counted 150 people as fully vaccinated.
“I think is a very important message. People should hear that that it is true. And that we can show it in our own community,” Dr. Patel said.
According to the U.S. Census, more than 342,000 people live within Galveston County. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, more than 144,000 Galveston County residents are fully vaccinated as of Thursday.
The Galveston County Health District confirms 86 “breakthrough” infection cases so far. COVID-19 vaccines are widely available across America for everyone 12 and up.
“They are nearly 100 percent effective against severe disease and death,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky during a press briefing on Tuesday. “Meaning nearly every death due to COVID-19 is particularly tragic.”
So to those who don’t want to get a COVID-19 vaccine because they think there are enough medications and therapies to fight the disease, Dr. Patel said, “despite all the advances we have made, it is not pleasant to be in a hospital with the infection. Yes, you might survive, but you may have significant problems while you're in the hospital. You may have complications. You may have lingering health problems for days to come.”
Patel hopes to see more young adults get vaccinated. Galveston County Health District’s change in communication just might help.