HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — With the rise of COVID-19 cases in the Rio Grande Valley, county officials are urging homebound residents to use the homebound vaccination program.
In Hidalgo County, Emergency Manager Ricardo Saldaña said the demand for COVID-19 vaccines have tripled.
“We’ve gone from doing 15 now we’re up to 30 to 40 a day. That’s why we’re trying to schedule as many vaccines out there as possible,” said Saldaña.
Saldaña added that to address the increase in calls they are looking to double the county’s efforts.
“We’re looking into going to do twice a week here beginning hopefully next week. We are looking into doing Mondays and Tuesdays and Thursdays and Fridays,” said Saldaña.
Hidalgo County vaccination efforts are carried out in part by staff from the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Texas Military forces according to Saladaña.
Saldaña added there are no plans of stopping the program anytime soon and have enough supplies and funding currently.
In Cameron County, some cities like Harlingen are not getting enough callers, according to the environmental health director.
“We would like to see more people. We know there are some homebound people that need some vaccines but right now we only have about five right now on our list,” said Josh Ramirez, city of Harlingen Environmental Health Director.
Though Ramirez said vaccination supplies are abundant he points out that testing supplies are not,
“Not at this moment on vaccinations but our agencies that provide testing tell us that there’s been a shortage of supplies,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez added that staffing is not an issue and is encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.
If you are a homebound Hidalgo County resident call (956) 292-7765.
If you are a homebound Harlingen resident call 956-216-5234.
