Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says the state has administered nearly 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines in just three and a half weeks and that the state is now able to vaccinate more people than before with the opening of several large-scale hubs capable of vaccinating thousands of people per day.
Abbott was in Arlington Monday visiting a large-scale hub at the Arlington Expo Center at 1200 Ballpark Way that is expected to vaccinate about 2,000 people per day. The site, which has been open since Dec. 28, is now accepting patients by appointment only through the Tarrant County Public Health Department, and walk-ups will be turned away.
Abbott said that Texans can register to receive the vaccine in any Texas county, not just the one they live in.
If you would like to register to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in Tarrant County, click here for more information. You can also call 817-248-6299
"Across the state, there are 28 large-scale hub location vaccine centers like this. There are 206 smaller locations in smaller communities around the state," Abbott said. "Each of these facilities will provide thousands of vaccines every single day making the process far more quick and far more efficient."
The governor said the state has distributed 1,580,400 doses to providers across the state so far and that as of Monday 802,507 of those doses have been administered. Abbott said 83,538 of the administered doses were second doses and that there are currently 777,897 doses that are either not yet administered or reported administered.
Abbott said there are another 487,500 doses that have been sent to Walgreens and CVSs to be administered to those living in long-term or nursing home care centers. To date, Abbott said, only 75,312 doses have been administered from that allotment.
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Abbott said the number of doses distributed to providers and those given to long-term care centers totals 2,067,900 and that 877,815 Texans have received a dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Abbott added that it takes a couple of days for the state to learn a dose has been administered and that numbers will continue to change every day.
The governor urged providers who were holding back doses for second doses to administer those as first doses to new patients and rest assured they would receive an adequate supply for second doses when the time comes.
Abbott said each week this month the state is expected to receive 310,000 first doses of the vaccine and another allotment of between 320,000 and 500,000-second doses, not counting what will also be sent for long-term care facilities.
Once vaccinated, people are expected to get some level of protection within a couple of weeks after the first shot, but full protection may not happen until a couple of weeks after the second shot. Even when fully vaccinated, it's still possible to become infected by the virus since the vaccine does not offer 100% protection.
The vaccine is currently only being administered to those who are part of Phase 1A and 1B, as outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those in Phase 1A are front-line healthcare workers or residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B includes those who are over the age of 65, or those over the age of 16 with a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness.
Another large-scale COVID-19 vaccine hub opened at Fair Park in Dallas on Monday where county officials hope to be able to vaccinate up to 2,000 people per day against the virus.
