AUSTIN, Texas — Updated after the governor received his vaccine.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott got his first dose COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday as the state receives hundreds of thousands of additional doses over the span of the next couple weeks.
He received the Pfizer vaccine at 1:30 p.m. the Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin.
During the first week of the vaccine distribution, the state of Texas received more than 220,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
For the second week of distribution, which started Monday, Texas health officials said they expect to receive more than 620,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Of those, almost 160,000 will be the Pfizer vaccine and more than 460,000 will be from Moderna, officials confirmed.
At a press briefing on Dec. 17, Abbott said that he expects more than 1 million Texans to receive their first dose of the vaccine by the end of December.
Right now, the lead recipients of the vaccine are doctors and nurses on the frontline. Texas will then work to vaccinate the most vulnerable Texas residents next, Abbott said.
On the Monday after Christmas, CVS teams will go to long-term care facilities across Texas to vaccinate employees and residents. More than 2,000 skilled nursing facilities in Texas chose to work with CVS, the company said, inoculating more than 275,000 Texans.
In the second week of distribution, most of the Pfizer vaccine -- around 124,800 doses -- will go towards the federal partnership program CVS is a part of to help vaccinate those in long-term care facilities, state officials said. The other doses will go 29 hospitals to continue vaccinating health care workers.
Forty CVS stores across the state will help in the effort as a sort of base for vaccination teams and expect to begin receiving doses Wednesday.
Once those in phase 1A have been inoculated, the next group in Texas will be able to receive the vaccine in phase 1B.
State health officials announced Monday that group will be Texans who are age 65 and older or who have certain medical conditions.
In a statement, Texas Medical Association President Dr. Diana Fite thanked Abbott for "rolling up his sleeve" to get the vaccine and serve as an example to others.
"People need to see we can make Texas strong against the coronavirus if we all take these preventive measures to protect ourselves and others. The governor is leading by example by getting the shot," the statement read.
"This safe and effective vaccine represents the early light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. If enough people get the shot when they are eligible to do so, we can win this battle."
To read a detailed draft of the state's vaccination plan, click here.
