SkyEye flew over the extensive complex, where rows and lines of vehicles were being channeled to vaccination stations under the white tents.
The opening of the driven vaccination clinic was not without its problems. Several factors, including missed appointments throughout the day, forced some people to wait up to 45 minutes. FEMA told ABC13 that it is working to resolve the long waits.
The clinic had a soft launch on Tuesday and will provide another location, in addition to county, city, hospital and pharmacy locations throughout the region.
According to organizers, the federal site is expected to vaccinate 126,000 people. An estimated 300,000 people have signed up for the vaccine still waiting for the first dose of vaccine. The mega site should greatly increase the chances of getting the shot soon.
On Monday afternoon, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, FEMA Regional Director Tony Robinson and other local officials gave details of the COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic. managed by the state, with federal support.
SEE: Visit the mega-site of the NVG Park COVID-19 vaccine before the soft opening
Since its announcement a few weeks ago, workers have been building the temporary mass vaccination facility. It will be a car access facility to the yellow lot at NRG Park.
“People deserve good news, a little hope,” Hidalgo said. “This site marks the biggest effort to date to vaccinate our community.”
According to Hidalgo, those living in the postal codes affected by the virus will be vaccinated.
“We all, at the state, federal and local levels, agree that this site should focus on the people who have been left behind so far and who have been the hardest hit by COVID-19,” Hidalgo said. “We have done so by finding postal codes with the highest incidence of the virus and the highest social vulnerability and the social vulnerability index.”
The postal codes are as follows: 77022, 77029, 77032, 77078, 77087, 77093, 77502, 77504, 77506, 77587, 77011, 77012, 77015, 77016, 77020, 77026, 77028, 77033, 77037, 77038, 77039, 77048 , 77086, 77091, 77503, 77060, 77080, 77099, 77013, 77014, 77036, 77050, 77051, 77076, 77090.
Hidalgo added that people 65 and older on the waiting list who come from the city’s top ten zip codes will receive top priority for local vaccines.
The next priority group will be those over 65 years of age.
“We will then prioritize people from the remaining 25 most affected postal codes before they leave the wider waiting list,” Hidalgo said. This group will be those 60 to 64 years old with underlying medical conditions living in high-risk zip codes.
The fourth priority group will be those aged 60 to 64 with underlying medical conditions.
FEMA uses the Harris County and Houston City waiting list. People are being contacted to request an appointment.
To join the Houston City Waiting List, visit their website at houstonemergency.org/covid-19-vaccines or call 832-393-4301.
The Harris County waiting list can be accessed at vacstrac.hctx.net.
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