LOCKHART, Texas — One thing Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden said the county's residents did particularly well during the pandemic so far was keeping businesses afloat, as the town square in Lockhart has livened up again.
"As we've gone through this and as restrictions have eased a bit, the square is very lively," Judge Haden told KVUE on Wednesday. "Amazingly enough though, right here on the square, our businesses have managed to stay in business. We've had some grants through the County and the City and everybody survived it so far. And now we're coming back."
But what Judge Haden agrees has been a struggle is getting the COVID-19 vaccine out to the county's more than 35,000 eligible residents.
"[In the] beginning, we were very frustrated. We signed up to be a hub, just like other counties signed up to be a hub," he said.
According to the judge, they didn't receive that designation.
"So we were very frustrated by that, because especially in the beginning, that was the difference between getting no vaccine and a couple of hundred vaccines, and getting 1,000 or 2,000 vaccines," he said. "And so it caused a really big disparity for my county is the way I felt about it."
Caldwell County has often found itself on the lower end of the data by county in Central Texas when it comes to the percentage of eligible populations that have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine.
However, Judge Haden is optimistic for the months ahead that the numbers will start to rise.
"As we've gone forward and vaccines have become more and more available, our allocations are getting much better," he said.
He adds that residents have been able to utilize the vaccination site at Circuit of the Americas operated by Travis County and CommUnityCare.
In addition, he said they've been doing things to try and help increase the allocation of the vaccine, which includes adding new providers.
"We also have a kind of mini-hub set up at one of the gyms here in town. So every other week or so we bring the military unit that comes in and vaccinates a couple hundred people," he said. "But by and large, the people in my county, because we didn't get that hub designation, have had to go outside of the county, either to COTA or to Bastrop County or to Hays County."
While residents in Caldwell have had to venture off to other counties, Judge Haden said in the end it's actually helped their cause to get residents vaccinated.
"We probably have eight providers, but not all of them get vaccine every week. And when they do, they only get a couple of hundred ... We're very thrilled about our collaboration with Travis, Hays and Bastrop County. That's been a game-changer for my county," he said. "And so that has really helped us to get thousands of people vaccinated that otherwise wouldn't have been from my county."
He added that things are continuing to improve now in Caldwell County.
"We we just signed up with Curative to do our vaccinations, and they are also – can be a provider. And so we're very hopeful that over the next two or three weeks that we'll be able to do 1,500 vaccines a week at two different sites. And so that's really what we're pushing for," he said. "But we are – I'm not going to sit here and say we're not frustrated by the fact that our county has not been getting nearly as many vaccines as our surrounding counties. We're very frustrated by that."
Judge Haden also said he believes it's not a matter of whether or not residents actually want the vaccine.
"I think most people want it," he said. "There are people here that think it's not been proven yet. They feel like it's not 100% studied. And so, they're reluctant to get it. But I think most of our population wants it. I think they – most people view it as a way to move beyond COVID and are willing to do it."
Caldwell County has received some help from the State, including through the Save Our Seniors program from the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Military Department (TMD).
Overall, Judge Haden believes they're ready for more supply.
"We're ready for a lot more vaccine. We prepared ourself. We have sites set up. We've proven that we can do it. And we would like to see our allocations increased quite a lot," he said.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: