HOUSTON — Harris County’s mega-vaccination site at NRG Park became appointment-only Wednesday afternoon after big crowds and long lines all morning.
It comes a day after County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced a new $100 incentive for people getting their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at all Harris County Public Health sites.
“We’re seeing a large number today, a lot larger than yesterday due to the program,” said Mac McClendon, Director of HCPH’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, on Wednesday afternoon.
By the end of Tuesday, first-dose vaccinations were up 170 percent compared to the day before across all 11 HCPH vaccination sites.
That same day, average wait times at NRG Park were approaching two hours.
McClendon said his team was expecting larger crowds, but they made changes Tuesday night to keep up.
“We increased our capacity of vaccinators, increased our capacity of data entry folks, general traffic management and flow management to better serve the public,” McClendon said.
Meanwhile, Houston Health Department is offering $25 gift cards to people who get fully vaccinated at its sites within 42 days of their first dose. The program began Aug. 2.
“We’ve not seen the response that we wanted, and that’s unfortunate,” said Dr. David Persse, Chief Medical Officer with the City of Houston during a Wednesday morning live Q&A with KHOU 11's Brandi Smith. “I really wish that it had been the health argument that had won everyone over, and we didn’t have to go to spending money to get people to do what’s gonna help them protect themselves and their family.”
Harris County’s $100 incentive program lasts through Aug. 31.
County Commissioners approved $2.3 million from their allotment of federal COVID relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan to cover the cost.