COVID-19 Update: City holds press conference on virus vaccine

The City of Brownsville held a virtual press conference where Mayor Trey Mendez, Public Health Director Art Rodriguez, renowned epidemiologist Dr. Joseph McCormick and City Commissioner Rose Gowen M.D. informed the community on the COVID-19 vaccine, the priority system, the cost and more.

“We want people to understand that the vaccine is arriving and there’s a system in place for who can take it and when,” Mendez said. “There’s limited quantities right now, as these companies begin to produce the vaccines. … It’s been an incredible few months in the development of the vaccine itself, the delivery systems that are created. Showing just how valuable science is.”

Rodriguez said the vaccine distribution is currently on phase 1, which means health care workers, hospitals, hospital systems and universities that have health care professionals are the top priority and will get the vaccine soon if they haven’t already done so.

“They are the top priority because these are the front line workers,” he said. “We’ve heard all this year that we need to protect them so that as COVID continues to impact the community, they are immunized and able to continue the fight against COVID with a healthy workforce.”

After them, the next phase includes EMS, fire and police personnel to then continue with education workers, long-term nursing home residents, adults over 65 and people who have severe medical conditions, complications and chronic diseases.

“The system is already starting to move,” he said. “And keep in mind that there’s a large number of people that need to be vaccinated. Every day we will be able to share what time line we are at and when the next group will be able to start receiving their vaccines.”

McCormick said the vaccine has been tested on hundreds of thousands of people and it is safe. He added it is important that the community gets the vaccine as soon as they’re able to because they are the single most important public health invention and have saved more lives and even eradicated diseases such as smallpox, which killed millions of people.

“So many different vaccines have saved so many lives,” he said. “This is a wonderful addition to what we have seen in the past. This vaccine is built on the kind of research that our tax dollars go for at the National Institute of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and without the science behind this, and all we’ve learned over the decades about how to make a vaccine and how to use it, we would not have something that has occurred so quickly.”

McCormick said the COVID-19 situation is still very dangerous even though the vaccine is already available for some. He said it is important to still follow safety guidelines such as wearing masks, social distancing and staying home even after being vaccinated to completely defeat the virus.

“We are not there yet for everyone, so people cannot let their guard down for wearing masks, social distancing and staying home as much as possible,” he said. “We are in the middle of the worst surge that we’ve seen so far with this. There were over 3,000 deaths and over 200,000 cases yesterday in the United States. So we are in the worst situation possible and we are starting to see a little bit of an increase in our area.”

Rodriguez said the vaccine will be available to everyone, whether insured or uninsured, at no cost. He added that according to COVID-19 officials, 70 to 85 percent of Brownsville’s population would have to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity. He explained herd immunity is when a larger percentage gets immunized resulting in a social protective form of protection because it is hard to get the virus back in circulation in a sustained manner.

“A provider is being allowed to charge a small administration for those who are insured,” he told The Herald. “If you are uninsured there will be no cost to you. The City of Brownsville will work with local partners such as state and county health agencies to ensure the most vulnerable population is reached. The local health department is already working with local officials from homeless centers and area agencies on aging towards getting their populations available for vaccination.”

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