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San Antonio's Metropolitan Health District is able to keep open its vaccination clinics despite the loss of federal funding.
In late March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced Metro Health’s “Vaccines for Children” grant funding for clinic operations by half a million dollars. Those use of those funds was restricted to vaccination outreach, data and evaluation.
As a result, Metro Health was set to halt its regular childhood vaccination clinics starting July1.
However, in a statement to TPR, Metro Health announced that its Immunization Clinic will continue operating on its regular schedule throughout the summer.
"The clinic has retained sufficient staffing to support both ongoing disease response efforts and the upcoming back-to-school immunization campaigns," said Claude A. Jacob, Metro Health's director.
Jacob added that future funding remains uncertain but Metro Health remains committed to providing essential preventive services — like immunizations.
While San Antonio’s Metro Health is able to keep its vaccination clinics open, the picture isn’t clear for the rest of the state.
Texas is expected to lose $117 million in Vaccines for Children and immunization grant funding. More than 50 measles vaccine clinics have been canceled statewide mainly in rural counties.
More information about accessing Metro Health’s vaccine clinics can be found at sa.gov/health.
