Texas launches ‘Save our Seniors’ initiative to vaccinate as many seniors as possible

(The Center Square) – Three Texas agencies have launched a “Save our Seniors” initiative to vaccinate seniors with a free COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines are voluntary.

The Texas Division of Emergency (TDEM), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), and the Texas Military Department (TMD) announced 26 participating counties for the first week.

They include Aransas, Bastrop, Brewster, Brooks, Brown, Cass, Dallas, Eastland, Freestone, Gray, Hill, Hockley, Hudspeth, Hutchinson, Irion, Lee, McCulloch, Medina, Morris, Panola, Rains, Refugio, Robertson, San Jacinto, Shelby, and Webb counties.

To implement the initiative, the state is deploying more than 1,100 National Guardsmen. Divided into teams, some guardsmen will focus on identifying and registering homebound seniors for the program while others will visit homes and administer vaccines. The state is also working with organizations like Meals On Wheels and nursing groups to identify homebound seniors who volunteer to be vaccinated.

The program launched Monday.

Last week, while millions of Texans were without power, heat or water, the governor first announced the Save Our Seniors program in Corpus Christi.

“A key part of our mission in the fight against COVID-19 is to vaccinate seniors and those who are most at risk,” Abbott said. He said he hopes to replicate the model that has been successfully employed in Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi Fire Department, Meals On Wheels, and city leadership have worked together to identify and vaccinate homebound seniors in their communities.

The state has allocated up to 8,000 vaccine doses for the first week of the initiative, which is also being coordinated with local officials and service organizations. The goal is to identify and vaccinate Texans who are 75 years and older or homebound. TDEM and TMD are working with local jurisdictions to set up a central drive-through vaccine clinic in their communities or to vaccinate homebound seniors in their homes.

“As more communities are identified and selected for the program, we will be able to get more shots in arms and further strengthen our response to this virus,” Abbott said.

Counties and cities were selected based on several factors, including data provided from DSHS related to targeted areas with ongoing high hospitalizations; the number of approved providers serving the area; areas that reported no more than roughly one-third vaccinated seniors; total allocations over the previous 12 weeks; data showing the least vaccinated counties for both 65+ and 75+ administered doses; and allocating the vaccine “equitably across the state.”

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