CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Officials from Corpus Christi and Nueces County council will hold a joint press conference today at 11:30 am to inform the public of the 4,000 doses of Moderna vaccination schedule arriving Monday.
City / county health director Annette Rodriguez and other city leaders will appear at the press conference.
“This is an exciting day for Corpus Christi,” said Mayor Joe McComb. “But we are going to advise people to have a good dose of patience.”
Officials said vaccinations are expected to begin at noon Monday at the Richard Borchard Center on the fairgrounds. 1213 Terry Shamsie Blvd. in Robstown.
Registration begins online on Sundays at 5:00 PM through the link to the city’s coronary website. Registration continues until the number of registrations for the following day is reached.
When a person goes through the registration process, they will be given a QR code which will be shown to the officials at the time of the vaccination. You will be asked to take a picture of that code and bring it to the vaccination site. It is a unique code and cannot be shared with others.
The vaccination process will target two groups: those over 65 and others 18 and over with chronic illnesses such as cancer, COPD, diabetes, heart disease, sickle cell disease, and pregnancies.
Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales borrowed a few references from “Field of Dreams,” a movie she said was one of her favorites, to describe the county’s plans to distribute the vaccine.
“If you build it, they will come,” said Canales. And the reason we built the infrastructure is the same answer that was given to (“Field of Dreams” star) Kevin Costner. To ease his pain. This is what we are doing to ease our pain with COVID-19 . ”
Officials hope to distribute 4,000 first-step doses of the vaccine next week. That would then pave the way for additional doses of the state when they run out.
Canales said the Corpus Christi area has been designated a “megasite,” meaning it is intended to serve those who wish to receive the vaccine from outside the province.
“The sad truth is that our population is more at risk than others in the state,” Canales said. “We have 50 percent more of our population aged 65 and over than the rest of the state. That’s very attractive. We also have more uninsured people and more with a lower average income than the rest of the state.”
Only 500 doses of the vaccine will be available through the online registry, Canales said.
The site will close once all 500 doses have been processed.
An additional 500 doses are reserved for those who do not have access to a computer.