Gov. Greg Abbott: Texas Administered 100,000 ‘Always Voluntary, Never Forced’ Vaccines in One Day

Miriam Palomino, right, received the COVID-19 vaccine in Paterson, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 21
AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Texas continues to lead the way in vaccine distribution, administering 100,000 vaccines in a single day “for the first time,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Friday evening while emphasizing that getting vaccinated is “always voluntary” and “never forced.”

“Today, Texas administered more than 100,000 vaccines in a single day for the first time. Vaccine volumes are expected to continue to increase. Our providers are not only working faster, they are also covering more regions in the state,” Abbott announced on social media, stressing the decision to get a vaccine is “always voluntary”:

The news follows last week’s announcement from the governor and Health Department, which celebrated a major milestone: the Lone Star State became the first state to vaccinate one million people. The state hit the marker “exactly one month to the day after the first doses arrived at vaccine providers in the state on December 14,” Abbott’s office said in a press release containing his statement on the achievement.

The announcement added that Texas chose to prioritize residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, frontline healthcare workers, seniors, and those with chronic medical conditions.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, last updated January 22, showed Texas distributing 2,884,435 vaccinations and administering 1,644,781 doses, or 5,672 per 100,000.

Florida, another state leading the way in prioritizing the most vulnerable, has distributed 2,616,250 vaccines and administered more than one million as well — 1,314,377, or 6,120 per 100,000. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Thursday that the state is “rapidly approaching a monumental milestone of 1 million seniors vaccinated.”

New York, once the U.S. epicenter of the Chinese coronavirus, has distributed 2,367,075 doses of the vaccines and administered 1,203,994, or 6,189 per 100,000, according to the CDC’s January 22 data.

Nationally, 39,892,400 doses have been distributed and 19,107,959 administered.

The U.S. reported 24,512,618 cumulative cases of the Wuhan virus as of Friday. On Wednesday, the day President Biden took office, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) “released new coronavirus testing guidelines for laboratories worldwide that may result in fewer infections reported by health officials,” as Breitbart News detailed.

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