New COVID-19 variant increases need for vaccination
Vaccinations are voluntary and no one will be forced to get vaccinated
"There are those who are hesitant to get vaccinated and we respect those feelings. However, we ALL need herd immunity, so that we can all be safe again. In order to achieve herd immunity at least 75% of the county needs to be vaccinated," Milam County Judge Steve Young said in light of hearing of a new variant of COVID-19 discovered in the county. "Today (Monday) we received confirmation that the Brazilian P1 variant of the COVID-19 virus is in Milam County. An individual from Milam County tested positive for this variant. All the more reason to get vaccinated."
Milam County has and will continue to make the vaccination process as simple as possible. All one needs to do is call 254 697 7000 and we will make an appointment or simply go to one of the walk-in clinics. The vaccination process takes about 30 minutes and it is free and virtually painless.
"In the coming days, we will begin having mini-walkin clinics at different locations throughout the county. We plan to come to Buckholts, Gause, Milano, Davilla and other places to give shots. We also plan to offer a Saturday morning clinic in the very near future. In addition, we are making arrangements with various businesses in the county to vaccinate at the workplace, for the convenience of the employees," Young said.
Tuesday the county will give more homebound shots. On Wednesday, the county will run a big second round Moderna clinic in Rockdale. There are clinics planned in Cameron next Wednesday and May 20 at the Cameron VFW.
If you are called to be vaccinated go to your appointment with your consent forms completed. There are different forms for the first round shot and different forms for the second round shot. You may download the forms by going to our web site address as set forth below.
First Round Consent Forms: http://www.milamcounty.net/upload/page/9873/VACCINE%201.pdf
Second Round Consent Forms: http://www.milamcounty.net/upload/page/9873/VACCINE%202.pdf
Monday the county tested in Rockdale at the former hospital. Nine individuals were tested with no positive results. So far the county has tested 3,291 with 977 positive results. Next testing will be May 10, 2021 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.1438 total PCR – up 4
7 active PCR cases – down 1
1089 antigen cases- up 1
2 active antigen cases – up 2
Total active cases in Milam County – 9 – no change
5 hospitalized – up 3
Total hospitalized since the pandemic began -203– up 3
1 on a ventilator – down 1
48 fatalities- no change