Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday will meet in Houston with state health leaders and a local hospital system executive to discuss his priorities for Texas lawmakers, who returned to the Capitol last week for the 2021 legislative session.
The meeting at Houston Methodist Research Institute will be private, but Abbott will make public remarks and include an update on the state’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout at 12:15 p.m. Central after the discussion, according to a press release.
Lawmakers are not meeting this week, but are expected to return to work next week.
Houston public health officials are not mentioned as participating in the meeting, drawing criticism from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner who said in a weekend tweet that “any round table conversation in Houston about vaccine distribution in Houston, Harris County region should include diverse representation to ensure there is equitable vaccine distribution to at risk, vulnerable communities.”
The meeting comes as Texas is set to receive 333,650 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 260 providers across the state, including 79 “hub” providers capable of focusing on large community vaccination efforts.
State officials are warning the COVID-19 pandemic is now at its worst in Texas after 1,231 deaths were reported for the state in just three days. Hospitals in the Abilene, Bryan-College Station and Laredo areas have also run out of intensive care unit beds.
Texas is outpacing other states in administrating the vaccine, topping 1 million total doses last week. As of this weekend, the state had fully vaccinated, with both doses, nearly 180,000 people. Another 500,000 doses will be shipped to Texas for second-doses, Abbott’s office said.
