Area officials excluded from COVID talks
Turner and Hidalgo apparently snubbed
Gov. Greg Abbott met with hospital executives Tuesday in Houston to discuss the state’s coronavirus vaccine rollout, while appearing to snub city and county officials who are overseeing a bulk of the distribution.
The Republican governor said the county, and specifically Houston Methodist Hospital, is leading the state in vaccinations, with more than 250,000 doses administered through the weekend. Dallas County is second for the most shots given, he said.
“Houston Methodist has helped Texas become a national model for the vaccination program,” Abbott said, following a closed-door meeting with executives at the hospital.
Texas became the first state last week to surpass 1 million coronavirus vaccinations, and had administered about another 360,000 as of Tuesday, including 177,000 second doses overall; the vaccines each require two doses.
It is among the top 10 states for administering the doses it’s received, according to a Bloomberg news tracker.
The governor’s remarks come as the state continues to pivot toward large-scale vaccination sites capable of administering thousands of shots each day. This week, 79 such mass hubs are receiving doses from the federal government, up from 28 the week before.
Several of those sites are in and around Houston, including one at Minute Maid Park that is run through a partnership with the Houston Health Department and the Astros Foundation.
In a tweet over the weekend, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said city and county health officials had not been invited to participate in the governor’s meeting.
“Any roundtable conversation in Houston about vaccine distribution in Houston, Harris County region should include diverse representation to ensure there is equitable vaccine distribution to atrisk, vulnerable communities,” Turner wrote.
Abbott has been repeatedly at odds with Democratic municipal leaders including Turner and County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who have asked for stricter emergency restrictions to slow the spread of the pandemic. The state has recorded more than 32,000 coronavirus deaths since March, and remains in the midst of a massive second surge.
The city and county are currently receiving about 17,000 vaccine doses each week, combined.
Asked about why municipal health leaders were excluded from the discussion, Abbott said state agencies are in “constant communication with local officials, and that process will continue.”
The state has administered about 78 percent of the doses it received, not including those to long-term care providers, which is being administered by CVS and Walgreens, Abbott said.