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Coastal Bend COVID-19 vaccination and case numbers rise over past week

As cases in the Coastal Bend surged, experts said it proved the community wasn't out of the pandemic despite thousands of vaccines being administered.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Over the past week the Coastal Bend saw both an increase in COVID cases and in the number of people vaccinated. 

"The spread of COVID won't be controlled by vaccinations right now," said Chris Bird, a member of the COVID-19 task force and a professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. 

As cases in the Coastal Bend surged, Bird said it proved the community wasn't out of the pandemic despite thousands of vaccines being administered.

RELATED: Upcoming COVID-19 vaccine clinics in the Coastal Bend. Here's what you need to know.

"The numbers you hear they're always the number of shots given but in order for someone to be vaccinated, there needs to be two of them. So, if you hear 20,000 vaccines that's not 20,000 people vaccinated," said Bird. 

Bird said there still haven't been enough people fully vaccinated to consider a return to normalcy. 

RELATED: Two new UK variant COVID cases reported in Nueces County

"Through all the cell phone metric, they all are showing an increasing trend over the past month or so," said Bird. "Our modeling shows that another peak as big or bigger than July is possible if we just say forget it." 

Bird said he's concerned for the next week as Easter weekend approaches and more people will get together, but he hopes they will remember to practice safety precautions.

For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.

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