COVID-19 vaccine: Houston Mayor Turner takes the COVID-19 vaccine as a ‘mega’ vaccine center in progress

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was among the city’s top leaders who received their first doses of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

But his vaccination at the city hall comes at a time when all the available chances offered to residents to get the vaccine this month are filled quickly.

Earlier in the day, Turner’s office announced the start of an online appointment portal to allow Houstonians who qualify in Phase 1B to launch the vaccination to register. The website was made in addition to a call center that was temporarily out of service due to high demand.

The mayor visited with residents on Sunday the city’s first public vaccine site COVID-19 at the Bayou City Events Center. The appointments were fully booked for the second consecutive day, but people can still call to make an appointment later this week.

In a tweet posted by Turner on Sunday, a total of 986 people were vaccinated.

And just as on Sunday, Turner reported another busy day on Monday, but he asked residents eligible for the vaccine to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available. He also asked the black, Hispanic and Asian-American communities – all classified as those with a large share of high-risk individuals – to make appointments as soon as possible.

In addition to the mayor, Houston’s chief of police, Art Acevedo, fire chief Samuel Pena, colleagues from Turner’s city council and a handful of frontline public works officials were vaccinated.

According to the state health department’s vaccine data panel, as of Monday, Harris County administered at least 62,321 first doses.

Turner said the city is trying to increase the amount of doses administered each day at its public vaccination site. The city is also working to open additional mass sites in the future. However, he said there are challenges ahead.

“We need the dollars from the last stimulus package to get here as quickly as possible,” he explained. “As you know, they didn’t make it until the end of the year … right at the end. So a lot of that (is) hampering the ability to increase the hiring of many more people, because to have In all these sites, you really you need to have ubiquitous vaccines, generalized vaccines. You need a little more staff, and the ability to set up mobile sites and the ability to go to people’s homes to actually vaccinate them. “

If you meet the requirements to receive your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of Phase 1B and want to make an appointment at the city’s public vaccination clinic, you can call the city health department’s COVID-19 call center at 832-393 -4220 or visit the Houston city vaccine site.

The clinic is located at the Bayou City Event Center, located at 9401 Knight Road.

RodeoHouston volunteers addressed future vaccination sites

Going hand in hand with a planned megacentre, Turner also faces a problem when it comes to labor and future vaccine clinics.

In an email, previous volunteers from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo were informed that the annual show was approached by the city to help find volunteers to work in vaccination sites that would soon be open.

Rodeo volunteers who agree to be part of the venues will be eligible, but not required to be vaccinated as part of Phase 1A, according to the email.

The volunteer’s duties vary from medical, logistical and office.