FEMA expected to open mass COVID-19 vaccine site in Houston this month
HOUSTON - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is establishing a mass COVID-19 community vaccination site in Houston, and it is expected to open in two weeks.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday that three mass vaccination sites would be coming to Houston and the DFW Metroplex.
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The federal pilot sites will be based at Fair Park in Dallas, AT&T Stadium in Arlington and NRG Stadium in Houston. They will be operated by FEMA in partnership with the state of Texas through the Texas Division of Emergency Management and local officials.
"These mass community sites will allow us to expand access to COVID-19 vaccinations in underserved communities and help us mitigate the spread of the virus," said Governor Abbott. "Thank you to our partners at FEMA for working with the State of Texas to establish these vaccination sites and help us protect our most vulnerable."
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Texas and FEMA to open two vaccination super sites in Houston, Dallas
Texas will now work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to launch two vaccination super sites in Dallas and Houston. Governor Greg Abbott tweeted the announcement Monday and said the super sites could handle up to 6,000 shots a day.
The sites are expected to be open to eligible members of the public beginning February 24, with preparations and buildout of the three locations now underway.
Officials say details for appointments at these locations will be announced in the coming days.
In a statement, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said, "On behalf of all Houstonians, I thank the White House for its plan to establish a COVID-19 mass vaccination site at NRG Park in Houston. Getting the vaccine into the arms of as many people as possible as quickly as possible is vital to ending this pandemic and saving lives. We look forward to working with FEMA, the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Harris County to iron out the details, including registration and access. We must work collaboratively to vaccinate as many people as possible and in a targeted way to include a diverse population."
The White House says, together, these sites will be capable of administering more than 10,000 shots in arms a day.
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement, "We’re grateful for the Biden administration’s aggressive push to increase vaccination capacity across our region, and for taking us up on our offer to use Harris County’s NRG Park as a vaccination site. Reaching herd immunity is the keystone to recovering from this pandemic and getting our economy at full force again, but we’ll only get there if we work together to make it happen. Efficiency, fairness, and equity are the values we are applying to each step of our process to recover from this crisis and we look forward to working with FEMA and state health officials to ensure this effort reaches those hit hardest by this crisis. Vaccinations at this location are scheduled to begin the week of February 22 and we will share additional details as we get them."