State senator shares input on progress of vaccine availability, administration

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today

Cindy Aguirre

(Seguin) – A state leader is providing more insight into policies related to COVID-19. Senator Judith Zaffirini, who represents Senate District 21, says COVID-19, in particular the vaccine distribution, remains a top focus for state leaders despite other dealings currently on the table during the 87th Texas Legislative Session.

Zaffirini says she is just as concerned about the lack of vaccines or the speed in getting them into the arms of Texans.

“The vaccine distribution is something that is so important. We have to ensure that everyone who wants to be vaccinated can be and everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated gets vaccinated timely. But the rollout has been disaster. There have been problems throughout this state. I can’t tell you how many phone calls and emails and complaints that we have heard from families and elected officials who are justifiably upset because the rollout has not been efficient,” said Zaffirini.

Despite the lag in the process, Zaffirini says she’ll continue to work with her communities in hopes of preparing them for when do become available.

“I am doing my best to work with mayors and with county judges and with healthcare providers to be the liaison between the city and the county and the state trying to address those problems and to resolve them so we can be more efficient and one of the solutions has been to establish hubs – hubs in different communities where the vaccines can be distributed from there. The problem is the federal government did not buy enough vaccines when they were offered the opportunity to buy them. They did not buy enough. They turned them down and so that is why some of those vaccines went to other countries. But now, we will have enough because Pfizer and Moderna and others that are coming online soon, we hope, will introduce enough vaccine so that everyone can have them,” said Zaffirini.

Zaffirini says it’s just as important that communities have the eligible folks ready and waiting for those first mass rounds of the vaccine.

“And we are hoping that people will be vaccinated as quickly as they can if they are eligible and after we go through Phases 1A and Phases 1B which focuses on healthcare providers and people over 65 and people with certain medical conditions that others will be vaccinated too,” said Zaffirini.

Zaffirini says she is also still extremely disappointed that teachers were not among the list of individuals included in Phases 1A and 1B for the distribution of the vaccine. She says COVID-19 brings about many other issues that impact the Texas school system.

“From my perspective, I think teachers and educators should have been included in the first group. So, we will also be talking about every issue related to COVID including education and right now, we have a mix of some schools that are requiring their students to learn virtually and others that are open and some that have a blend. We have to do what is best for the students and for the families and for the members of the education team. I am mortified about teachers who are going to school to work and teach and to interact and who don’t feel safe. I can’t tell you how concerned I am about those teachers because not only do they have such an important task at hand, but then they have to deal with the anxiety of feeling that they are risk and that is not right and I’m so glad that we are not using the STAAR test, for example, to evaluate schools because that was a huge burden on our educators. From my perspective, I thought that we shouldn’t have the STAAR test administered this year at all, “said Zaffirini.

Despite the hiccups with the distribution, Zaffirini says those vaccines will play a significant role in our future.

“But going forward, we have to continue to address these issues because COVID will be an issue for months. We are hoping that perhaps we can go back to somewhat a normal situation in June, but it won’t be any earlier than that,” said Zaffirni.

Zaffirini is the second highest-ranking senator and highest-ranking woman senator in the state. Included in Senate District 21 are all of Seguin and Guadalupe County.

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