Lufkin lawmaker seeks rural delivery of vaccine

LUFKIN — The 1.4 million doses of coronavirus vaccine being sent to Texas hospitals soon are not going to 157 rural locations. One state lawmaker thinks that’s going to change. Representative Trent Ashby of Lufkin says he got a response the same day he sent a letter to the state health commissioner.  According to Ashby, “It seems clear to me that rural Texas, our voice, has been heard. It’s not set in stone, but it sure appears to me at this point that we will be included in the next round of vaccines.” Ashby told Dr. John Hellerstedt that if the state or Pfizer had communicated with any of the rural hospitals, it would have been clear that any number would have met storage and packaging requirements.