SAN BENITO — Even after taking the COVID-19 vaccine her nurses called for, Narcisa Ortiz still wants to double-mask to protect herself — and others — from the coronavirus.

After searching three weeks, Ortiz traveled from her Weslaco home Friday to receive her vaccine at San Benito’s community vaccination clinic.

“I give thanks to God because he gave me the opportunity to get it,” Ortiz, a housewife suffering from hypertension, said. “The nurses told me it was for protection.”

Three days after Gov. Greg Abbott scrapped his mandate ordering facial coverings, Ortiz said she plans to keep double-masking.

“It’s too early,” she said, referring to Abbott’s order effective Wednesday. “I wear two masks for my protection and the protection of the person I’m speaking to. I feel better like this. I’m going to keep wearing it — and so is my family.”

Smooth operation

On Friday, about 500 people 65 and older received the Moderna vaccine during San Benito’s second vaccination clinic.

At the Cameron County Fairgrounds, officials turned a big metal building into a two-lane vaccination station, with a team of nurses from the San Benito school district vaccinating people in six cars at a time.

“It’s going real smooth,” David Favila, the city’s spokesman, said.

During the clinic’s pre-registration session, officials divided people into four groups, vaccinating each within intervals of about an hour.

“We alleviated the wait time,” Favila said. “There weren’t people waiting for hours and hours.”

By about 10:30 a.m., the clinic, which opened at 7 a.m., had administered nearly 500 doses.

‘Playing it safe’

Near Ortiz’s car, Stella Tovar said she’s still antsy about the new vaccine.

“I feel scared,” Tovar, 66, a retired insurance agency employee suffering from hypertension, said. “They don’t know very much about the vaccine. It’s something new. They don’t know what the outcome will be.”

But she was taking her doctor’s advice.

“I called the doctor’s office,” she said. “They recommended it.”

Despite Abbott’s order rescinding the state’s order on facial coverings, Tovar said she’s still going to wear her mask.

“I believe we should all continue to wear the mask,” she said. “I don’t think it’s safe without the mask. We don’t know if the vaccine is really going to work. I’m just playing it safe.”

City ready for more clinics

In San Benito, officials are ready to hold more vaccination clinics, Favila said.

“It depends on what the county’s going to allot,” he said, referring to the number of doses county officials earmark for the city.

Favila noted the vaccines’ manufacturers are stepping up production.

“There’s more vaccine coming,” he said.

For weeks, city leaders had pushed state and county officials for vaccine doses to allow them to hold their own hometown vaccination clinic.

Since last month, county officials, who have been receiving weekly state shipments of 6,000 dosages, began setting aside doses, allowing area cities to open small-scale vaccination clinics aimed at cutting waiting periods and travel for people in the 65 and older age group.

“If the county keeps dispersing, this will be a continuing event,” Favila said.

Second-dose clinic

On Tuesday, officials are opening their first clinic aimed at administering the second and final dose of the Moderna vaccine to people who received their first dose on Feb. 9.

“We’re getting more efficient, learning what works, what doesn’t work,” Favila said. “Every time, it’s going to get more and more efficient.”


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