The 87th Texas Legislative Session kicked off last week, meeting for only 140 days, which only happen once every two years. Last week’s business was mainly organizational electing leaders and adopting rules for this unique pandemic session.

Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) was elected Speaker of the Texas House, and Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) was named President Pro Tempore of Senate and is third in the line of succession to the Governor of Texas and presides as governor in the absence of the Governor and the Lt. Governor.

The Legislature's main task this year and every session is certifying the budget. Things are looking a little more optimistic earlier this year; originally, the Texas Comptroller had predicted a significant budget shortfall; however, things look brighter. The shortfall is only 0.4 % down from the previous biennium, about $950 million. Although the state is in a better position, lawmakers will be looking for ways to make up the nearly $1 billion shortfall through budget cuts and additional revenue streams.

TPGA will be monitoring legislation filings very closely and has done so since pre-filing started this past November 9, 2020.

Texas is planned to get over 300,000 first doses per week and 500,000-second doses each week in the month of January; however, it is spread over the entire state.

Texas has only announced (2) phases of vaccine dissemination. Phase 1A healthcare workers, EMS, and nursing homes.

Phase 1B which includes 65 years or older or ages 16 and up with chronic medical conditions are now being able to make appointments and get vaccinations. It will take several weeks to get through 8 million eligible in this group.

• People 65 years of age and older

• People 16 years of age and older with at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19, such as but not limited to:

• Cancer • Chronic kidney disease • COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) • Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies • Organ transplantation • Obesity and severe obesity (body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher) • Pregnancy • Sickle cell disease • Type 2 diabetes mellitus

If you are 65 years or older or have one of the chronic medical mentioned above and live in Texas? Click on the button below and enter your address to see every facility that has vaccine allocation.

Disclaimer: In some areas, demand may outweigh availability.

Texas has not yet reported who will be included in Phase 1C of vaccine eligibility; however, CDC recommendation is essential workers including public safety, transportation, logistics and energy, which we fall under.

The link to the below data is updated daily. You can see how many vaccines have been allocated to your county, how many have been used or who vaccines are being distributed to demographic wise.