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Governor Greg Abbott: More doses of the COVID-19 vaccine should be available next week

The Governor also indicated that at least by the end of December, deliveries would be expanded to include clinics, pharmacies, etc.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With a familiar, brown UPS truck as his backdrop, Governor Greg Abbott took time Thursday to praise the delivery company for getting the Texas allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine where it needs to be.

But then, the Governor got down to numbers.

“Before today,” said Governor Abbott, “we had already delivered about 95,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Today, an additional 129,000 doses will be delivered across the state of Texas.”

That’s over 224,000 doses being sent to 110 providers (hospitals and medical schools) across 34 counties.

According to Abbott, there should be even more of the vaccine available next week, when both Pfizer and Moderna will be in play, meaning that over 1-million people could be vaccinated in Texas before the month is through.

The Governor also indicated that at least by the end of December, deliveries would be expanded to include, among others, clinics, pharmacies, freestanding emergency rooms and urgent care clinics.

Governor Abbott then took a moment to move away from vaccines and urged the continuing use of something we already have as a tool in the fight against the virus: antibody therapeutic drugs -- one made by Regeneron, the other by Eli Lilly.

It is the same treatment used for President Donald Trump when he was infected with the coronavirus in October.

“They are sitting on shelves in hospitals and other locations around the state, “said Abbott, “and are not being used for the reason which it is intended. These are life-saving antibody therapeutic drugs that can be put into people who already have COVID-19 and help keep them out of the hospitals.”

Antibody therapeutic drugs are primarily for those who have been diagnosed with the virus and who are at the highest risk of having it progress because of factors like obesity, chronic kidney disease, or diabetes. It reduces the chances of those patients ending up in the hospital.

Also, when asked  about the possibility of once again placing restrictions on bars and restaurants in an effort to reduce the number of COVID deaths across the state, the Governor said, “People’s lives have been crushed, and their pocketbooks and their ability to pay rent and put food on the table has been harmed because of the shutdowns, and so, no, we will not have any more shutdowns in Texas.

RELATED: The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the Coastal Bend and were administered, so what’s next?

RELATED: Texas anticipates receiving 620,000 vaccine doses in second week of distribution

For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.

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