Lee said he flew from Houston to Washington DC just for Saturday’s event and wanted to make sure the children and families in need had presents to put under the tree.
“Our first priority, of course, was to protect our children,” said Jackson Lee. “COVID-19 cost the lives of over 300,000 Americans. We lost thousands in Texas and we lost thousands here in Houston and Harris County. We wanted this to be fun, but we wanted to be safe, and the children for to be safe. We didn’t want to snatch it this holiday season. “
The event was a drive-thru event, and Houston leaders Sylvester Turner, HPD Art Acevedo and HFD Samuel Pena helped load the toys for the families waiting in line.
Pablo Vasquez, a nurse in the Extremely Infectious Unit at Houston Methodist Continuing Care Hospital, was one of the health workers who received the first dose of Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday.
“We’re not right there,” Vasquez said. “But it’s the beginning of the end and that gives me hope.”
He said he had seen an increase in COVID-19 patients admitted to local hospitals.
“I think this is a direct result of going out on Thanksgiving, and people are probably relaxing the rules of social distancing they’ve been used to or trying to make exceptions because it’s family,” Vasquez said. “But of course, that’s what we see is the biggest risk. You know, small group gatherings, small family gatherings where the infection just spreads.”
Vasquez, along with city and Harris County leaders, are pushing for people to be tested before the holidays to protect you and your family.
“One important thing to know is that if you are testing, you have to be isolated or quarantined until these results return,” Vasquez said. “Know the type of test and make sure you get a test from a trusted source so you can trust the result you get.”
The CDC Advisory Committee met on Saturday to discuss the distribution of the Moderna vaccine, which is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the United States.
“It’s great news because it’s increasing our vaccine supply,” said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth School of Public Health. “The Moderna vaccine has the advantage that it can be stored at regular temperatures in the freezer, left in the refrigerator for 30 days, so it will really help in several rural areas that simply did not have the capacity to store something that had to be stored in -80 ° C. “
Healthcare workers and nursing homes are still a major priority for vaccinations, and eventually the general public will have access to the vaccine.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said the Houston Department of Health will receive a delivery of Modern COVID-19 vaccines as part of the Texas Department of Health’s two-week allocation.
“We have notifications that the state is delivering 3,000 doses to the city of Houston to the Department of Health,” Mayor Turner said. “We will follow Level One protocols, which means that health care workers, employees of the Houston Department of Health will, of course, be eligible for vaccines, and then we will work with our hospitals and housing facilities, such as they would be nursing homes to make sure they use what we are given. I think this is the first distribution of many, many more to come. “
Follow Roxie Bustamante on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
Copyright © 2020 KTRK-TV. All rights reserved.