On Monday, Mayor Sylvester Turner, along with medical health experts, held an information session to give an update on the city’s response to the virus and the launch of the vaccine.
According to Turner, the city’s health department received 41,950 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine and has so far administered 33,839 first doses. When it comes to second doses, the Houston Department of Health received 18,600 doses and has administered 2,300. He added that the health department has scheduled 971 appointments this week so people can receive their second dose of vaccine.
The information comes days after a partnership with the Houston HOPE Clinic helped vaccinate high-risk, low-income residents. Over the weekend, the clinic was scheduled to provide 500 doses of the vaccine on Saturday, according to Turner. By noon, 250 of these doses had been distributed.
SEE ALSO: Houston HOPE Clinic vaccinates those who need it most
Thousands of doses have been administered throughout the city, despite some errors in the reservation recently. Hundreds of people were sent home disappointed earlier this month after the Houston Department of Health announced it was running out of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the public megacamp of Minute Maid Park.
During Monday’s briefing, Turner said his strategy will be to keep moving forward by focusing on getting vaccines to at-risk and low-income communities.
As demand continues to outstrip supply, Houston Department of Health director Stephen L. Williams said they expected things to improve as more doses of vaccine are on the way.
“This week, our health department distributes more than 9.00 first doses to the most vulnerable. We prioritize approximately 5,300 doses for our area agency on aging, 2,400 for providers in vulnerable communities, and 1,300 for pre-scheduled appointments. “said.
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Williams added that the health department will pause the waiting list until further notice. The reason for this is that they are working on creating a link for people to start scheduling their own appointments for second doses, which could be announced as early as Tuesday.
Although more and more people are getting the vaccine, Turner reminded the public that it would help prevent the virus from spreading.
“The focus on the vaccine doesn’t mean we can stop focusing on prevention and testing,” Turner said. “I want to remind people that the virus is still very much within our community.”
Turner announced Monday that the Houston Department of Health reported 1,089 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Houston City cases to 158,751.
According to Dr. David Persse of the Houston City Department of Health, data from the Texas Medical Center showed that hospitalizations have been declining and declining slightly. He believes the city could be at the beginning of the downside of the second wave, but he also urged people not to drop their guard.
“This is not the time to take our foot off the brake, we need to continue to have masks at a social distance, wash our hands and get frequent tests,” Persse said.
Persse also encourages people who have received their dose of COVID-19 vaccine to continue testing for the virus, as studies have not shown whether vaccinated people are still sick.
“The reason for this is that we know that the studies that were done looking at the effectiveness of the vaccine, looked for people who had a clinical disease who went to their doctors and ended up with the diagnosis of COVID-19 because they were symptomatic and were ill “. Said Persse. “Studies didn’t look to see if vaccinated people still had the virus and therefore were able to spread it but had no symptoms. So we don’t know yet. These studies continue as we speak. You should move on. and keep taking regular tests, even if you have no symptoms. “
The conference last Monday also addressed the latest mask mandate, in which the CDC stated that travelers must wear masks on all forms of public transportation. According to Turner, offenders could receive civil sanctions if they refused to follow the warrant.
SEE ALSO: CDC says travelers must wear masks on all forms of public transportation to curb the spread of COVID-19
“The Houston airport system is running the mandate. Everyone at our airports over the age of two must wear a face covering that goes through your nose and mouth,” Turner said. “The federal mandate is needed to curb the spread of COVID-19. Anyone who refuses to comply with this federal mandate can suffer civil sanctions, including immediate listening outside the airport.”
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