Dozens of senior citizens in a luxury high-rise in Texas are getting COVID-19 vaccines in the first wave of the state.
Featuring marble-tiled bathroom floors, an outdoor pool, parking, a concierge service and a 24/7 security guard, the Montebello – out-of-town Houston complex features apartments that can sell for up to $ 4.8 million.
And the last two weeks or so 60 residents have been vaccinated against the virus, reports the Daily Beast.
In Harris County, where Houston is located, there are more than 237,000 confirmed cases, a sixth of all infections in the state.
But thousands of health workers at risk are struggling to receive their vaccinations because hospitals are rapidly running out of supplies.
About 60 residents of the upscale Montebello neighborhood complex (pictured) in downtown Houston have received COVID-19 vaccines
The Montebello general manager said the state approves the vaccines and that the building works with a distributor. In the photo: an interior of one of the Montebello apartments for sale
However, a Houston Department of Health spokesman said he was not aware of any arrangement with the high-rise building. In the photo: the outdoor pool available to all residents
Meanwhile, health care workers are struggling to get their vaccines because hospitals are rapidly running out of supplies. Pictured: A health worker receives the Modern COVID-19 vaccine at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, December 21
“The state of Texas has approved it,” Montebello general manager Daniel Hancock told the Daily Beast.
“We’re working with a distributor … It’s a blessing that we were able to get it.”
Hancock did not name the distributor and Montebello is not on a Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) list of providers to whom COVID-19 vaccines have been assigned.
However, he said in the publication that the building could get doses of the jab due to the elderly population, although it is unclear how many elderly people live in the building.
David Fink, 68, one of the residents to be vaccinated, told the Daily Beast that it was not the only health care service he had received through the building.
He also gets his annual flu shot by being a Montebello resident.
In Harris County, where Houston is located, there are more than 237,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a sixth of all infections in the state (above)
“It was above all,” he said.
Both Hancock and Fink told the Daily Beast that other apartment buildings in Houston have similar arrangements to get doses of coronavirus jab for their residents.
Neither the Texas DSHS nor the Houston Department of Health (HHD) responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
An HHD spokesman told the Daily Beast, however, that he was not aware of any arrangement with the high rise.
“All distributors must register through the state health department,” said Porfirio Villareal.
‘The apartment complex is not an approved provider. If a site is not approved, and is not on the list, and who receives the vaccine, we should not go to the site. ‘
The list of the DSHS in Texas includes only hospitals, medical centers, pharmacies, and living centers as recipients.
However, only 40 percent – 340,000 – of the 786,000 doses distributed across the state were administered.
In Harris County, where Houston is located, only about 52,000 of 150,500 doses were administered.
Many say they struggled to find a supplier to get the vaccine, despite the DSHS recommending that Texans call and ask for a chance.
“I could not find anyone who has the vaccine,” Michael Calder, a resident of Allen who falls under state criteria, told CBS DFW.
He called three places, two of which told him they were running out, and one of them said only employees were vaccinated.
“It simply came to our notice then. I do not want to get sick, ‘he said.
“I do not want to be the last person to get sick and die while a vaccine is already being distributed.”
This led to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner authorizing the HHD to open the city’s first free vaccination clinic on Jan. 2 for those at high risk for serious illness and death.