Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), and the Texas Military Department (TMD) have confirmed 25 participating counties for the fourth week of the Save Our Seniors initiative. The Governor announced the Save Our Seniors program in Corpus Christi in February to ensure more seniors are vaccinated throughout the state. Previously, 26 counties participated in the first week and 34 counties participated in the second week of the initiative. Last week, 28 counties took part in the program. To date, 88 counties have participated in the program.
“Thanks to the ongoing success of the Save Our Seniors program, more elderly Texans are being vaccinated than ever before,” said Governor Abbott. “We will continue to deploy state vaccination resources across Texas to reach more seniors and get more shots in arms.”
TDEM and TMD will work alongside local jurisdictions to set up a central drive-through vaccine clinics in each community or administer directly to homebound seniors — these decisions will be driven by local officials as they identify vulnerable residents in their communities to participate in this program.
Counties participating in the fourth round of the program are Caldwell, Camp, Crockett, Delta, DeWitt, Duval, Fayette, Hidalgo, Hunt, Jim Hogg, Kimble, Llano, Lynn, Maverick, Milam, Montague, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Sherman, Starr, Titus, Tyler, Val Verde, and Zapata.
In coordination with local and state partners, counties and cities have been selected based on recent data provided from DSHS related to the following factors:
- The state looked at the number of approved providers serving the area;
- The state took into account total allocations over the previous 12 weeks;
- The state utilized data showing the least vaccinated counties for both 65+ and 75+ administered doses;
- The state focused on allocating vaccine equitably across the state.
Earlier today, DSHS announced that they have directed vaccine providers to prioritize people 80 years old or older when scheduling appointments and accommodate anyone in that age group who presents for vaccination, whether or not they have an appointment, by immediately moving them to the front of the line. That will ensure vaccination of anyone 80 or older with as small a burden on themselves as possible.
