August 4, 2021 -- Mayor Sylvester Turner, the Houston Health Department, Harris County Public Health, and leaders from different Houston-area school districts held a news conference today to announce the “Super Saturday Vaccination Day” initiative to get families and children ages 12 and above vaccinated before going back to school.
The Mayor was joined by the City of Houston Chief Medical Officer/Local Health Authority Dr. David Persse, Local Health Authority for Harris County Public Health Dr. Janeana White, Houston Independent School District's Superintendent Millard House, Aldine ISD Chief of Staff Sheleah D. Reed, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Al Green and other education leaders from the Houston area school districts.
“Families and educators have a right to feel safe going to a place they know and trust such as a school building to get the vaccine,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Having more families and educators vaccinated will mean less students and educators getting sick and missing school. Our goal and our hope with Super Saturday Vaccination Days is to administer enough vaccines that will allow for parents, educators, and students to feel comfortable enough to return to face to face instruction and be better protected from variants of COVID-19.”
Currently, 54.3 percent of Houstonians age 12 and above have been fully vaccinated. With an increase in hospitalizations and the current spike in the number of cases due to the Delta variant, the City continues to encourage people ages 12 and above to get fully vaccinated.
“If you are unvaccinated, you are a threat to yourself and everyone around you, especially your family,” said Dr. David Persse, chief medical officer for the City of Houston. “This virus is spreading so rapidly that most unvaccinated people may get COVID-19 and many will get sick enough to need hospital care. Every person who is hospitalized for COVID-19 occupies a bed that’s needed for typical emergencies like heart attacks, strokes, and trauma.”
The Independent School Districts currently participating are Aldine ISD, Alief ISD, Crosby ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Galena Park ISD, Houston ISD, Huffman ISD, Katy ISD, Pasadena ISD, and Spring ISD. They all have at least one school participating with more schools are being added as well as school districts.
“Fourteen HISD campuses will take part in the mayor’s Super Saturday Vaccination Day initiative this month,” said Houston Independent School District Superintendent Millard House. “Increasing Vaccination rates among our communities will help ease the worries of our families as their children return to school. For some of them, it will be the first time inside a school building in 18 months. Rest assured, HISD is planning for a safe return. We are doing everything we can to protect our students and staff, but we need your help. The best way you can do that is by getting vaccinated.”
“Super Saturday Vaccination Days” will start this Saturday, August 7 and will take place every Saturday in August in different school campuses throughout the Houston region. For a full list of the participating schools and more information, please visit https://houstonemergency.org/super-saturday-vaccination-day/.