HOUSTON - On Saturday, Houston city officials held several events to vaccinate people for COVID-19.
Mayor Sylvester Turner, and members of the Houston Health Department, visited District J where almost 5,000 vaccines were given Saturday.
"The focus of today, is making sure we’re getting these vaccines to a diverse population," said Mayor Turner. "That’s the focus. Couldn’t be any more diverse than right here in District J."
Starting Monday, any Texan 16-years of age or older, will be eligible for Coronavirus vaccines.
"This is a race against the variant," said Turner. "People know; the state of Texas is 100 percent open."
More than 10 million Texans have received at-least one COVID-19 vaccine so far including more than 1 million in Harris County.
"We’re about 13 percent fully vaccinated," said Houston Health Department Director Steve Williams. "When I look at what I call tier 1 and tier 2 zip codes, it’s not 13 percent. It’s well below 13 percent."
"There’s still some hesitancy," said District J Council Member Edward Pollard. "It’s up to us to go back into our neighborhoods and community, to educate people on the importance of getting a vaccine."
State leaders say Texas will receive more than 1 million COVID-19 first dose vaccines next week.
"There’s an additional site that’s ready to go, that can handle up to 5,000 [per day]," said Turner. "All we need, is the vaccines."