AUSTIN (AP) — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is getting the COVID-19 vaccine as the number of patients hospitalized with the virus in Texas has again climbed past the troubling mark of 10,000 for the first time since this summer's deadly peak.
Abbott's aides say he will receive the shot on live television Tuesday at Austin hospital to help reassure the public that inoculations are safe. The announcement comes on the same day that President-elect Joe Biden took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his Delaware home, which was also broadcast on live television.
“Increasingly, Texas residents and even some medical personnel have expressed apprehension about taking the vaccine, and the Governor will receive it on live TV to instill confidence in it," Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said. “The Governor would not ask any Texan to do something he would not do himself.”
