‘Texas is now in the 9th inning’: Abbott predicts 2021 economic rebound after COVID-19
Gov. Greg Abbott told the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Wednesday that “Texas is now in the 9th inning of dealing with the challenges of COVID-19” as the vaccine is distributed across the state.
“Texans should receive this month about the same number of vaccines as the total number of people who have contracted COVID-19 since it began in the state of Texas,” Abbott said, briefing the chamber virtually by Zoom on COVID-19 updates and legislative priorities. “We are quickly going to be able to address and arrest the spread of COVID-19, especially when you couple in with that the anti-body therapeutic drugs that are now available.”
There have been roughly 1.35 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state as of Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas is expected to receive more than 1.4 million doses of the vaccine for December.
Doses began arriving in Texas this week. On Monday four hospitals in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston received the first shipments.
An additional 75,075 doses were delivered to 19 sites across the state on Tuesday, including Texas Health Resources’ central pharmacy in Arlington. Its allotment of 5,850 doses was taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest in Fort Worth, where vaccinations started for front-line health care workers.
Doses allotted to other medical facilities for the first week of distribution are expected to arrive in the coming days. This includes hospitals in Tarrant County.
Brandom Gengelbach, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, asked Abbott when everyday people, such as university students, can expect to start receiving the vaccine.
Abbott said the next in line will be elderly populations who are at high risk. He expected that 10% of the state’s population will be vaccinated in each of the first three months of the new year.
Abbott said the state is expecting economic growth in 2021, after a year of economic troubles because of the coronavirus. He predicted that the year will be among the “best economic years the state of Texas has ever had.” Part of this is because Abbott believes the economy will bounce back after COVID-19, but he also pointed to headquarters for companies like Oracle and Charles Schwab coming to Texas.
“We are looking forward to very rapidly getting ready for our economy to get back going and growing again,” Abbott said.
Earlier this week Abbott was at the White House for a briefing on Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s plan for producing and delivering the vaccine. Vice President Michael Pence and other state and federal leaders discussed COVID-19 response and vaccine distribution.
Abbott touted the state’s preparation for vaccine distribution and said the White House wanted to emphasize better distribution of antibody therapeutic drugs.
“We are very, very well situated in all of these strategies to make sure that Texas is going to be able to quickly get out of the confines of COVID-19 and get back to business,” Abbott said.
Looking ahead to the Texas Legislative Session that starts Jan. 12, Abbott said there will be an “intense focus” on people returning to work and job creation.
“Another thing that we can do is to assist all of these businesses that have been having to pay unemployment benefits,” Abbott said. “The … unemployment benefit rate has skyrocketed and we need to work together to find some solutions for that.”
Passing a budget that ensures there are no new taxes is another priority, Abbott said. This will allow people “to keep more of their own money,” he said.
Abbott emphasized the need for liability protection reforms so businesses that have opened “will know that they will be able to do so without facing an onslaught of lawsuits that could crush their businesses,” Abbott said. He said telemedicine will also be a hot topic during the session.
Abbott additionally called for the defunding of police departments to be prevented and for homelessness to be addressed. Abbott has clashed with local governments, particularly Austin, on both issues.
