The Houston Department of Health launched an online portal for residents to request an appointment at its COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Monday, but it quickly ran out of vacancies by the end of the month.
“The response to Houston’s first COVID-19 vaccine clinic was massive, quickly filling vacancies for the department’s current vaccine distribution,” Mayor Sylvester Turner told a news conference at City Hall, where he was about to receive his own injection in the arm.
“Appointments at the vaccine clinic are scheduled for the rest of this month, and the department is not scheduling additional appointments at this time.”
Turner said the city is working to set up additional sites and create additional capacity, although it is unclear when new commitments will be available. Turner said the city hopes to open a “mega site” on Saturday.
The portal, available at houstonemergency.org/covid-19-vaccines, added another way for qualified residents to make an appointment. A hotline is also available at 832-393-4220.
The city clinic vaccinated almost 2,000 residents with the Modern vaccine in two days. He is accepting residents of the first two phases of the state’s distribution plan, which include emergency frontline workers, people aged 65 and over and over 16 with certain high-risk health conditions.
These conditions include cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, solid organ transplantation, obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes.
Turner said he spent a lot of time at the clinic over the weekend and was concerned about the lack of people of color there. The mayor said he and other city leaders were receiving their vaccines in public in an attempt to ease residents’ concerns about the process.
“The point is, for people of color in this diverse community, this is not the Tuskegee Project,” said Turner, referring to an unethical 40-year study in which several hundred black men infected with syphilis were tricked by researchers government and were left without treatment for the disease. “We recognize people’s hesitations, people’s fear, but many people are coming to get the vaccine. This is not the time for people of color to stay away from the vaccine. “
Police chief Art Acevedo, fire chief Sam Peña and councilors Letitia Plummer and Michael Kubosh were among those who also received the vaccine at the city hall on Monday.
Demand for the vaccine overwhelmed the city’s call center when the clinic opened on Saturday, forcing authorities to use the register on the spot.
Harris County Public Health dropped its portal on Friday night after the department mistakenly allowed non-qualified residents to apply. The agency said it would conduct an investigation on the spot to ensure that the vaccine would only go to people authorized to receive it.
Department spokeswoman Martha Marquez said she is awaiting further shipments of the vaccine before starting to accept new orders.
Hospitals and other providers in the Houston area have also started vaccinating the elderly and some with high-risk conditions. The state maintains a database of vaccine suppliers on its website and recommends that residents call their suppliers for more information on availability.