County pays tribute to joint vaccination efforts during pandemic

On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court recognized the departments and organizations whose efforts were crucial in the county’s emergency response at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A dedicated group of public and private partners, including a cross section of community-minded, elected and appointed officials, and staff from internal county departments, as well as thousands of volunteers from across our region, worked tirelessly in the ensuing weeks and months to vaccinate residents and our most vulnerable communities,” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said.

The drive-thru vaccination clinic was hailed as a particularly successful joint operation, handled by a variety of organizations in partnership with the county. Brown cited some crucial contributors including Ascension Seton, Austin Public Health, CommUnityCare, Travis County ESD 11, Central Texas Allied Health, Del Valle ISD, and the UT School of Nursing.

“Through the work of the collaborative and our vaccinators of record from January 2021 through December 2022, nearly 140,000 vaccinations were delivered to Travis County residents, with another 300,000 doses provided by Ascension Seton and community partners for their distribution. Our protracted vaccination effort lasted for more than two years,” said Chuck Brotherton, county executive with emergency services.

Brotherton invited representatives from Ascension Seton, Central Texas Allied Health, the emergency services office and the Travis County constable’s office to come forward, saying, “It is only fitting, I think, that we acknowledge the participants.”

“I want to give a shout-out to Judge Andy Brown; he was new on the job and we were all sort of thrown into a blender of chaos in terms of how to handle this,” Commissioner Brigid Shea said. She recounted the early days of the vaccine, trying to parse unclear direction from the state.

“The state was like, ‘Well, look at the list online, then call your provider.’ There were hundreds of providers in Travis County,” Shea said. “And we were getting calls from the public about how to access the vaccine, so there was complete chaos and enormous frustration and anxiety when the judge stepped up and said, ‘How do we fix this?’ And he really put in motion an organization effort.”

As Commissioner Ann Howard recalled, “It was all hands on deck and it was an awful-wonderful way to start off as a Travis County commissioner.”

Editor’s Note: Andy Brown is on the board of the Capital of Texas Media Foundation, the parent nonprofit of the Austin Monitor.

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