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Harris County’s announcement of a $100 incentive for unvaccinated individuals to get vaccinated is paying off.
According to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the number of first-dose vaccinations in the region has grown by thousands since the program was announced on August 17.
Before the cash initiative was announced, the Harris County Public Health Department was administering 431 first doses of the vaccine per day. The same day the incentive was announced, the number of first doses doubled to 914. The trend continued in further days as 1,596 individuals received their first dose on August 18, and more than 2,700 did on August 21, a 529 percent increase.
“Over the past week, we’ve seen an overwhelming response to our vaccine incentive program,” Hidalgo said during her press conference on Tuesday (August 24). “It’s a win for the people of Harris County, and it’s a much-needed boost to the health care workers that have been working day after day seeing unnecessary tragedy in their hospitals, and so many families that continue to struggle with this virus.”
Due to the overwhelming demand for mass vaccinations, the NRG Park site will be moved to Dick Graves Park located on 2000 Reed Road beginning on August 26. The move will help facilitate 1,800 first doses and 2,500 total vaccines to be administered every day. The location offers a larger capacity for vaccine doses to be given out than NRG Park.
Beginning Tuesday (August 24), a new mass-vaccination site will open at Panther Stadium in Sheldon ISD located at 11411 C.E. King Parkway. The site has the capacity to offer 1,500 vaccines per day and will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Mobile vaccination units will also increase capacity to where they can offer 4,600 first doses and 7,600 total daily doses across all sites.
According to the latest data provided by Harris County Public Health, more than 2.2 million residents have been fully vaccinated.
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