Governor Greg Abbott says the state may partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to open two vaccination “super sites” in Dallas and Houston, and more could be on the way.
Abbott tweeted Monday those vaccine locations would be open every day and operate for eight weeks, handling up to 6,000 shots per day. Further details were not released at that time.
The possible partnership may come after California partnered with FEMA last week for two similar vaccine super centers under President Joe Biden’s push to create 100 such sites nationwide in 100 days.
It wasn't immediately estimated when these new sites could launch, however, as the COVID-19 vaccine remains in short supply. Currently, the state remains in Phase 1A/1B of its distribution plan, focusing on the vulnerable.
According to FEMA, they are working with different state governments to launch a small number of vaccination centers using primarily federal staff to support local governments with a goal to open these centers to get more people vaccinated, with a focus on making sure communities with a high risk of COVID exposure and infection are included.
The announcement came just one day after President Joe Biden said his administration intended to take up the NFL on its offer to use all of the league's stadiums as COVID-19 vaccination sites. In Texas, that means the Dallas area and the Houston area.
Up to 100 sites run by FEMA could begin offering coronavirus vaccine within the next month, part of a strategy that would dramatically expand the federal government’s role in the effort to corral the pandemic.
The plan is taking shape in the form of a draft “Concept of Operations,” which was obtained by The Washington Post.
Its mission will be to “provide federal support to existing or new community vaccination centers and mobile clinics across the country.”
“FEMA … will mobilize thousands of clinical and nonclinical staff and contractors who will work hand-in-glove with the National Guard and state and local teams to assist, augment, and expedite the distribution and administration of coronavirus vaccines,” the FEMA document states.
If requested by states and other jurisdictions, the draft notes, “the U.S. Government would develop, equip, provide information management, and staff and operate the site.”
Shots administered at these sites are expected to draw on the vaccine supply made available to individual states and territories, and some large cities, rather than relying on a new federal allocation stream. A lack of abundant vaccine supply will remain the most pressing problem, probably through March.