HOUSTON – At the McGovern Medical School, some of our area’s most prominent politicians got together and rolled up their sleeves to take the COVID-19 vaccine together. It was all part of a joint effort to remove any fears, especially in the Black and Hispanic communities, about getting vaccinated.
“This is vital. It is important for all communities, especially communities of color, where a great deal of reluctance has been growing, to get people to get vaccinated,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. “I am seeing, every day, increasing numbers of people in hospitals and people in ICUs. We have to stop this.”
While city and state leaders are pushing more to be vaccinated, the process of getting the shots into people’s arms is much slower than expected.
As of Wednesday, of the 124,000 doses that Harris County received to distribute, only 28,000 had actually gone to people, according to the State Department of Health Services website.
In Fort Bend County, of the 12,500 doses in stock, only 4,100 dosed had been given to people.
In Montgomery County, of the 15,000 vaccines sent, only 1,600 doses had been given to people.
Turner said health officials have to do better.
“The process has to move faster, to me, that’s very, very clear,” he said.
By next week, Texas will have received 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, according to the chief medical advisor to Governor Abbott.