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Dozens of seniors in a luxury apartment building in Texas received COVID-19 vaccines in the state’s first wave.
The Montebello condominium complex in downtown Houston features marble bathroom floors, an outdoor pool, valet parking, concierge service, and 24-hour security guard. 24 and 7 days a week.
And, over the past two weeks, approximately 60 residents have been immune to the virus, reports the Daily Beast.
In Harris County, where Houston is located, there are more than 237,000 confirmed cases, or one sixth of all infections in the state.
But thousands of at-risk healthcare workers are struggling to receive their vaccines due to the rapid decline in hospitals.
About 60 residents of the luxury Montebello condominium complex (pictured) in downtown Houston have received COVID-19 vaccines
Montebello’s general manager said the state had cleared the vaccines and the building was working with a distributor. Pictured: an interior of one of the Montebello condos for sale
However, a spokesperson for the Houston health department said he was not aware of any arrangements with the high-rise building. On the photo: the outdoor swimming pool accessible to all residents
Meanwhile, healthcare workers are struggling to receive their vaccines due to rapidly running out of supplies in hospitals. Pictured: A healthcare worker receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, December 21
“The state of Texas authorized it,” Daniel Hancock, general manager of Montebello, told The Daily Beast.
“We are working with a distributor… It is a blessing that we were able to obtain it.
Hancock did not name the distributor and the Montebello is not on the Texas Department of State (DSHS) list of health service providers to whom COVID-19 vaccines have been assigned.
However, he told the publication that the building may have received doses of the vaccine due to its elderly population, although it is not known how many elderly people live in the building.
One of the residents to be vaccinated, David Fink, 68, told the Daily Beast that this was not the only health service he received in the building.
He also gets the flu shot every year while being a resident of Montebello.
In Harris County, where Houston is located, there are more than 237,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, one sixth of all infections in the state (above)
“Everything was above the board,” he says.
Hancock and Fink both told the Daily Beast that other apartment buildings in Houston have similar arrangements for their residents to receive doses of the coronavirus.
Neither the Texas DSHS nor the Houston Health Department (HHD) responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
However, an HHD spokesperson told the Daily Beast that he was not aware of any arrangements with the skyscraper.
“All distributors must register with the state health department,” Porfirio Villareal said.
“The apartment complex is not an approved supplier. If a site is not approved, is not listed, and receives vaccine shipments, then our recommendation is not to go to that site.
The Texas DSHS list only lists hospitals, medical centers, pharmacies, and nursing homes 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 52,000 out of 150,500 doses were administered.
Many say they have struggled to find a supplier to get the vaccine despite the DSHS recommending that Texans call and request a vaccine.
“I couldn’t find anyone who actually had the vaccine,” Allen’s resident Michael Calder, who meets the state’s criteria, told CBS DFW.
He called three sites, two of which told him they were running out and one said only employees were vaccinated.
“It’s extremely important. I don’t want to get sick, ”he says.
“I don’t want to be the last person to get sick and die when a vaccine is already distributed.
This led Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to allow the HHD to open the city’s first free vaccination clinic on January 2 for people at high risk of serious illness and death.
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