BEAUMONT, Texas — Texas state officials announced this weekend that mass coronavirus vaccination hubs have been given the green light in Southeast Texas.
Jasper and Newton Counties have been grouped together as one site, and Chambers County and Jefferson County were also approved to move forward.
After weeks of watching larger cities across the state host mass vaccinations, Southeast Texas now has the opportunity to do what county leaders have been looking for — open up a vaccine hub.
Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said county officials are receiving call after call about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
"My office, the health districts, other clinics, pharmacies, people are calling around trying to find out where they can get it," he said. "We're looking forward to that, and we're looking forward trying to get as many people vaccinated as possible. Granted it's only 1,600 doses, but that's a great start."
The vaccination hubs are expected to operate on a lower scale compared to larger cities, given the lack of vaccines made available for the region.
"You can set up a grand operation anywhere, whether it's a big regional operation or smaller-scale county operation," Allen said. "However, if you don't have those vaccines to put in those arms, it doesn't do you any good."
Over the last few days, county leaders have been discussing the possibility of using Ford Park as a regional vaccination hub. While those plans are still being finalized, Beaumont Public Health Director Sherry Ulmer expressed confidence about their ability to pull off such operations in a recent interview.
"It's something we can do," she said. "We're certainly capable of doing it."
"It's what we do everyday," Ulmer said. "It's what we're pretty good at it. We give a lot of vaccines, and we have given vaccines before in mass settings, so we're ready to do that."
These vaccines are only for people in Phase 1A and Phase 1B, which means healthcare workers and anyone 65 and older or 16 and older with chronic health conditions.
Anyone who qualifies to take the vaccine, you can register to receive a dose at locations in Southeast Texas or across the state.