AUSTIN, Texas — Speaking from the UPS Customer Center located on Tuscany Way in Austin Thursday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas is well on its way to vaccinating a million people against COVID-19 prior to the arrival of 2021.
Abbott started the press briefing by thanking UPS for its role in distributing the vaccine across the state. He said there are more than 7,000 providers in Texas ready to make the Pfizer-produced vaccine available.
HAPPENING NOW: @GovAbbott is giving an update on the state's COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan at the UPS Distribution Center in Austin. Abbott says there are over 7,000 providers prepared to receive shipments. @SpectrumNews1TX
— Reena Diamante (@reenajade) December 17, 2020
The governor said prior to Thursday’s press conference, 95,000 doses of the vaccine had been delivered and that an additional 129,000 doses will be delivered Thursday, bringing the total to 224,000.
Abbott said that number will increase substantially once the vaccine produced by Moderna receives emergency approval by the FDA, and he anticipates roughly a million Texas will have been vaccinated by the end of December.
The initial vaccine doses, Abbott said, went to frontline doctors and nurses but will soon make their way to pharmacies, long-term care facilities and other health care facilities.
Abbott stressed that the vaccine is voluntary and will never be required.
He additionally said pressure is being applied on manufacturers to make antibody therapy drugs more available in order to keep patients from becoming ill to the point where they must be hospitalized.
It is a historic week in the Lone Star State.
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) December 17, 2020
The first doses of the #COVID19 vaccine are arriving in our communities and we are swiftly distributing these live-saving immunizations to Texans on the front lines.https://t.co/y0uydWX1yo
When asked about moving teachers and prisoners up in the vaccine queue, which he has been called on to do, Abbott declined to discuss prisoners but said he hopes teachers are on the front line of vaccine distribution.
The vaccines couldn’t come soon enough. According to Johns Hopkins University data, Texas is the second state to surpass 1.5 million total cases of the virus. The other state is California.
The Texas Department of State Health Services Wednesday reported 14,805 new confirmed cases of the virus in the state as well as 3,202 probable cases. There were 252 new fatalities attributed to the virus.