Memorial Hermann's mass vaccination plan on standby as they wait for supply
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- More vaccines have been sent to the Houston area, but it's not as much as providers would have liked to receive.
"Every opportunity that we have with our CDC colleagues, we are really advocating and fighting for each and every dose," said vaccine allocation panel chair, Imelda Garcia.
Ultimately, the state says it would like to see a million doses being sent out a week.
Once vaccine supply ramps up, health care providers from Memorial Hermann say they are ready.
Memorial Hermann's president and CEO Dr. David Callender says their hope is to vaccinate 30,000 people a week.
SEE ALSO: Memorial Hermann Sugar Land COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru clinic sign-ups filled quickly
One way to get more people vaccinated is by holding mass vaccination events, like the one on Thursday at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land.
Cars were lined up outside as people with scheduled appointments got their dose.
The concept first began several weeks ago at NRG Stadium.
"We're still in the mode right now of limited supply, of doing some pilots, testing these large-scale vaccination centers, using our clinics some of the other capabilities we have in our system," said Callender. "But we're developing the experience again, relaying all that information thinking about what we do when there's more supply."
There are a lot of logistics behind an event of that magnitude including staffing, security and safety measures taken to ensure the vaccine is properly handled and stored.
"This mass vaccination site model that we used at NRG, that we used this weekend in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, is designed to be module. It's transportable. We typically have gone with 10 to 11 tents for actual delivery of the vaccine, that number can be increased or decreased based on how much supply we have available, and how many people we think we can serve at a particular site," said Callender.
Once more vaccines arrive, Callender says the metro area could vaccinate between 50,000 and 60,000 a day.
