Menard and San Saba Among 28 Counties Where Seniors Can Get Covid Vaccine

AUSTIN, TX – Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), and the Texas Military Department (TMD) have confirmed 28 participating counties for the third week of the Save Our Seniors initiative. The Governor announced the Save Our Seniors program in Corpus Christi in February to ensure more seniors are vaccinated throughout the state. Previously, 26 counties participated in the first week and 34 counties participated in the second week of the initiative. 

"The continued expansion of our Save Our Seniors initiative is protecting elderly Texans from COVID-19 and ramping up our vaccination efforts across the state," said Governor Abbott. "As we head into the third week of this program, I thank our state and local partners for making this initiative a continued success as we vaccinate seniors and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our communities." 

The state has allocated over 18,000 vaccine doses for the third week of the initiative, which the state will use in partnership with local officials and service organizations to target Texans who are 65 years and older or homebound. TDEM and TMD will work alongside local jurisdictions to set up a central drive-through vaccine clinic in the community or administer directly to homebound seniors — these decisions will be driven by local officials as they identify vulnerable residents in their communities to participate in this program.

Counties participating in the third round of the program are Aransas, Atascosa, Brooks, Culberson, Fisher, Grimes, Hopkins, Houston, Jim Wells, Jones, Kinney, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Menard, Motley, Rains, San Patricio, San Saba, Shelby, Terrell, Trinity, Val Verde, Webb, Willis, and Yoakum.

In coordination with local and state partners, counties and cities have been selected based on recent data provided from DSHS related to the following factors:

1. The state looked at the number of approved providers serving the area;
2. The state took into account total allocations over the previous 12 weeks;
3. The state utilized data showing the least vaccinated counties for both 65+ and 75+ administered doses;
4. The state focused on allocating vaccine equitably across the state.