CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The COVID-19 vaccine clinic at La Palmera Mall is officially closed and will be relocating to the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District's location on Horne Road.
The clinic at La Palmera Mall was opened shortly after the pandemic began in an effort to focus on vaccine accessibility in Nueces County.
Assistant Director of Public Health Dante Gonzalez told 3NEWS that there are still multiple places and more options to get the vaccine residents need to stay up to date.
"We started seeing that there was a decrease in the amount of people that are getting vaccinated, they're not coming to that location anymore, even though it is very accessible," he said.
Using a $25 million grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services, Gonzalez said his department can focus on strike teams being scheduled to visit workplaces and administer the vaccine directly.
"The strike team can go to their location and vaccinate them on sight, you know. That's, that's a mechanism for us to be able to go to them. That way their employees don't have to take time off to come get the vaccine," he said.
Gonzales attributes the decrease in vaccine demand to people having more options where to get it. According to the health district, 591,404 doses were administered in Nueces County. 213,410 people are fully vaccinated.
City of Corpus Christi employee Raymond Maylone is already vaccinated and visited the health district to get his booster.
"I knew it was time," he said. "I know that with COVID being on the downslide, we still have to protect ourselves, and I want to make sure that I do my part to protect everybody else as well," he said.
Maylone said coming to the Horne Road location is more convenient than where he was going before.
"It's not too far of a drive, going all the way to Robstown, going to the mall sometimes with the crowdedness. Again, we didn't have any wait, came in, got seated and I got taken care of real fast," he said.
Gonzalez said it's also important to know which vaccine you need. The primary series is three vaccines: original, secondary and booster. There's also a fourth bivalent vaccine. That vaccine is two in one, protecting against the original strain and omicron variant.
"We're still seeing the rate of vaccination there. That means people, people are still getting vaccinated, it's just that now there's more resources available, which we're very thankful for," he said.
The Horne Road location in Corpus Christi is open from 8-6 p.m. Vaccines are free and no appointment is needed. The Robstown satellite clinic is open for vaccines from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Home-bound residents can request a vaccine by calling 311 and setting up an appointment. If interested in scheduling a strike team for a workplace, health officials said to call 361-826-7200 and selecting option two.
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