On Monday, Mayor Sylvester Turner, along with medical health experts, held a news briefing to provide 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 the second dose, the Houston Department of Health received 18,600 doses and administered 2,300. He added that the health department has 971 meetings scheduled for this week for people to receive the second dose of vaccine.
The information comes days after a partnership with the HOPE clinic in Houston helped vaccinate high-risk, low-income residents. Over the weekend, the clinic planned to deliver 500 doses of the vaccine on Saturday, according to Turner. By noon, 250 of these doses had been given.
SEE ALSO: Houston’s HOPE Clinic vaccinates those who may need them most
Thousands of doses have been administered throughout the city, despite recent booking errors. Hundreds of people were sent home disappointed earlier this month after the Houston Department of Health announced it was running out of doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the mega public site at Minute Maid Park.
During Monday’s briefing, Turner said their strategy will be to move forward by focusing on administering vaccines to high-risk, low-income communities.
As demand continues to outstrip supply, Houston Department of Health director Stephen L. Williams said things are expected to improve as more doses of the vaccine are being administered.
“This week, our health department is distributing over 9.00 first doses to the most vulnerable. We are prioritizing approximately 5,300 doses for the agency in our area on aging, 2,400 for providers in vulnerable communities and 1,300 for previous appointments,” he said. he. said.
SEE ALSO: Action 13: Connecting questions about COVID-19 vaccine with answers
Williams added that the health department will suspend completing its waiting list until further notice. The reason behind this is that they are working to establish a link so that people can start scheduling their own meetings for the second dose, which could be announced immediately on Tuesday.
As more and more people receive the vaccine, Turner reminded the public to 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 in our community.”
Turner said Monday that the Houston Department of Health reported 1,089 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases for the city of Houston to 158,751.
According to Dr. David Persse of the Houston Department of Health, data from the Texas Medical Center showed that hospitalizations have shrunk and decreased slightly. He believes the city could be at the beginning of the downside of the second wave, but urged people not to let their guard down.
“This is not the time to take our foot off the brakes, we must continue to have masks on our social distance, wash our hands and be tested frequently,” Persse said.
Persse also encourages people who have received the dose of COVID-19 vaccine to continue testing for the virus, as studies have not shown whether people who have been vaccinated are still sick.
“The reason for this is that we know that studies on the effectiveness of the vaccine are looking for people who had a clinical illness who went to their doctors and were diagnosed with COVID-19 because they were symptomatic and ill.” Said Persse. “The studies did not look to see if the people who were vaccinated still received the virus and were therefore able to spread it, but had no symptoms. So we don’t know yet. These studies are ongoing as we speak. You should go ahead and continue to be tested regularly, even if you have no symptoms. “
The latest mask warrant, in which the CDC said passengers must wear masks on all forms of public transportation, was also addressed during Monday’s conference. According to Turner, offenders could receive civil penalties if they refuse to comply with the warrant.
SEE ALSO: CDC says passengers must wear masks on all forms of public transportation to slow the spread of COVID-19
“The mandate is implemented by the Houston airport system. All people at our airports over the age of two must wear a face that covers your nose and mouth,” Turner said. “The federal warrant is needed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Anyone who refuses to comply with this federal warrant can be fined, including being immediately escorted out of the airport.”
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