Gov. Abbott to Deploy National Guard to Help Vaccinate Seniors Against COVID-19

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday announced that he has authorized the deployment of more than 1,100 National Guardsmen to help vaccinate homebound seniors against COVID-19, reports KXAN . As part of the "Save Our Seniors" initiative, Abbott said the National Guard will assist communities to get local seniors the proper COVID-19 doses. Some Guardsmen will help identify and register those requiring inoculation, while others will go to communities and administer the shots. Abbott explained that the effort is modeled after a program facilitated by the City of Corpus Christi, with the assistance of the local Meals on Wheels chapter and the city's fire department. Texas will commit 8,000 vaccines to the initiative for the first week, and the effort is scheduled to launch this coming Monday. Getting people vaccinated in rural counties is one of Abbott's priorities, and he said Guardsmen have been going to about five rural counties at a time "for several weeks now." He declared, "I want the people in those counties to know that we know about their concerns, and we know about their need."