Texas becomes 1st state to administer 1 million vaccines as pandemic infections top 2 million

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has become the first in the nation to distribute more than 1 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday as the state ramps up mass vaccination efforts while hospitals grapple with record numbers of patients.

Texas, the nation’s second-most populous state with nearly 30 million people, has boosted shot efforts in the last week by shifting doses to mass distribution centers that can handle thousands per day. State health records show 1,021,511 doses given with 132,396 people fully vaccinated.

More than 3 out of every 100 Texans have been vaccinated so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. 

The governor called it the “biggest vaccination effort we have ever undertaken,” but refused to order new lockdowns even amid rising numbers of new cases and hospitalizations.

Texas coronavirus cases have now topped 2 million since the pandemic first struck the state in early March, state officials reported.

Health leaders also say Texas currently has more than 14,000 Covid-19 patients in hospitals and its death toll has passed 30,000.