BEAUMONT, Texas — Residents at a west end Beaumont senior living community are getting COVID-19 vaccines Tuesday with more to follow.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Above video is from Feb 24.)
The vaccinations for the residents are part of a partnership between Riceland Healthcare and the ITEX Group which owns the Providence on Major complex where residents were getting their shots on Tuesday according to a news release from ITEX.
The company owns several complexes catering to the senior community in Southeast Texas.
The company has secured 700 doses and hopes to vaccinate 60-70 residents at at each stop.
Vaccinations for residents began with a Riceland mobile vaccination station at Place of Grace apartments in Beaumont's south end on Monday followed by Tuesday's stop at Providence the release said.
The mobile vaccine unit will continue Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with stops at La Belle Vie in Lumberton, Retreat at West Beaumont and Edison Square in Port Arthur.
Vaccines will be given next week at Heatherbrook Apartments and Crystal Creek Park Apartments in Port Arthur.
First doses will be finished next week and the mobile vaccine unit will come back around for second doses in late March.
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“We believe that every company has a duty to its clients and their personal well-being, which is why we’ve partnered up with Riceland Healthcare to do our part to make the vaccines that much more accessible,” Chris Akbari, CEO and President of ITEX was quoted in the news release as saying.
“We are thrilled to have secured the vaccines specifically for our senior community residents – they need it the most," he said according to the release.
The company's partnership with Riceland to vaccinate its residents comes on hte heels of an announcement last week by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to vaccinate all seniors in the state.
"We are announcing today, a statewide program to save our seniors," Abbott said on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, in Corpus Christi. "The state will deploy more than 1,100 National Guard across the state to communities to vaccinate homebound seniors."
Abbott said this program gets Texas closer to the main goal when it comes to COVID-19.
"Mathematically, the best way to do that, is to vaccinate our seniors and quickly as possible," Abbott said.
Abbott added that Texas has the power to staff this program. The next step one is locating homebound seniors.