Flanked by members of the Corpus Christi Fire Department, including Chief Robert Rocha (left at table), Gov. Greg Abbott announced a Save our Seniors Initiative to begin statewide on Monday, March 1. The program to vaccinate all Texans ages 65 and older by the end of March is based on the city’s model. Screen-captured image

Flanked by members of the Corpus Christi Fire Department, including Chief Robert Rocha (left at table), Gov. Greg Abbott announced a Save our Seniors Initiative to begin statewide on Monday, March 1. The program to vaccinate all Texans ages 65 and older by the end of March is based on the city’s model. Screen-captured image

Gov. Greg Abbott said the state of Texas will use the same method for vaccinating homebound seniors that was established in Corpus Christi. The Save our Seniors Initiative will begin March 1 with the help of 1,100 Texas National Guard troops. The goal is for every senior who wants a COVID-19 shot to have it by the end of March. Abbott made the announcement at a news briefing in Corpus Christi on Thursday, Feb. 25.
“As governor, I am here to tell you how extremely proud I am in what you have done in this community to identify and vaccinate homebound seniors,” Abbott said. “Corpus Christi was able to solve this problem, and we are going to replicate it across the state.” 
In Corpus Christi, the city, fire department, and Meals on Wheels organization worked together to identify homebound seniors who wanted COVID-19 vaccinations. Corpus Christi has vaccinated 2,000 homebound seniors through that effort. 
“The reason Corpus Christi was so successful is because of the information provided by those programs like Meals on Wheels,” Abbott said. “They have the information we as a state need to identify where those homebound seniors are. The mission is simple: Get our seniors vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
The availability of vaccine coming from the federal government is greatly increasing over the next several weeks, Abbott said, promising more information would be forthcoming on how much after his meeting with President Joe Biden in Houston on Friday, Feb. 26. 
Once a new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot to be effective, has been approved, the number of seniors who can be vaccinated quickly will also increase, he continued. 
The state is dedicating up to 8,000 vaccines to this initiative for the first week.