How will more Texans receive COVID vaccines? Look to Arlington, Gov. Abbott says
Agencies across Texas are adopting Arlington officials’ vaccine administration efforts as the state distributes more doses to larger vaccination hubs, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday during a visit to Esports Stadium Arlington.
The city’s site at 1200 Ballpark Way vaccinated nearly 7,000 residents the week of Jan. 4, city officials announced on Facebook. The site is one of 28 across the state designated as hubs. There are 206 smaller-scale vaccination centers in rural communities across Texas, Abbott said.
Abbott said the state will distribute most of the state’s next shipment of vaccines to hubs like Arlington’s. Providers in 104 counties will receive vaccines this week, and the state is expected to receive 310,000 first doses and as many as half a million second doses each week.
“It allows communities to have several locations vaccinating thousands of people in a single day,” Abbott said.
Vaccinations in Texas remain open only to first responders, health care workers, people 65 and over and those with medical conditions that make them more susceptible to severe illness or death.
Flanked by several local and county officials, Abbott toured Arlington’s facilities Monday morning before announcing multiple efforts to distribute the vaccine to health care workers, including partnerships among counties and health systems.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he is working with the state Emergency Management Department to vaccinate qualified residents in 10 surrounding counties.
Texas Health Resources CEO Barclay Berdan said the hospital system will assist the county by vaccinating people who have registered to receive the vaccine in Tarrant County starting on Tuesday.
State officials are also pushing pharmacies charged with vaccinating those in long-term care facilities to speed up their efforts.
“There is no reason for that process to be moving as slowly as it is,” Abbott said.
The state has distributed 1.58 million vaccinations to agencies, a little over half of which have been administered to Texans as of Monday.
“We have the structure to vaccinate Texans very quickly,” Abbott said. “This structure that we have now created can be expanded and will be expanded very quickly across the state.”
Two centers to administer antibody therapeutic drugs to help fight COVID will open in Tarrant County as well — one in Fort Worth and the other in Irving.
Officials urged residents and agencies to remain patient, as the state is limited by vaccine production.
“We have never had to try to vaccinate every person in the state in as short an amount of time as possible,” said Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner for the Texas Department of State Health Services.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 5:05 PM.
