County schedules second community COVID-19 vaccine clinic in La Joya

Residents in western Hidalgo County will be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Hidalgo County has scheduled its second COVID-19 community vaccine clinic that will be held in the city of La Joya, the county announced in a Wednesday news release.

Dozens of people in a waiting area after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as part of a Hidalgo County community clinic on the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show grounds in Mercedes Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2020. Progress Times photo by Jose De Leon III.

The clinic will be located at the Lincoln Building, at 801 College Dr. Officials will begin administering the Moderna vaccinations on Thursday, January 7, beginning at 8 a.m. on a first come, first served basis. Since there is still a limited number of doses available, the clinic will run until vaccinations are depleted, the release stated.

“We are hopeful that the community responds to this second round of COVID-19 vaccines as well as they did for the first in Mercedes,” Hidalgo county Judge Richard F. Cortez said in a statement. “As more vaccines become available to us, the opportunity for residents to become vaccinated will be easily accessible.”

The La Joya vaccine clinic was announced the day after the county held its first clinic in Mercedes to vaccinate 800 healthcare workers and those 65 and older. At the event, county officials said the La Joya clinic will also vaccinate the same amount of people, though the news release did not state how many dosages will be available Thursday.

Healthcare workers will be asked to provide proof that they are in the healthcare industry. In addition, people aged 18 and older with certain medical conditions are eligible to be vaccinated with the advice of their doctors.

More information, including a form that can be printed and prefilled, is available on the Hidalgo County website at www.hidalgocounty.us.