AARP Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Information Tele-Townhalls To Feature Local Health Officials

AARP Texas is hosting a series of live tele-townhall events in February to help keep you informed about COVID-19 vaccine distribution and how the coronavirus is impacting the 50+ population.

We will be calling AARP members in specific areas of the state to participate in the calls. But others can register to join the conversation. You’ll hear from local health experts who will discuss the latest information about COVID-19.

“As cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 continue to impact Texans, these question-and-answer events with local public health officials are presented to offer the latest information on staying safe, vaccines, testing and more,” said Lisa Rodriguez, manager of outreach and advocacy for AARP Texas.

We will update this page with event registration information as it becomes available so that you can join these question-and-answer forums.

The events include:

• 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9
  For residents of the east Texas counties of Smith, Wood, Rains, Gregg, Anderson, and Van Zandt
  Featuring:  Dr. Paula McGaha of the Department of Community Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Tyler.
  To participate, register at: https://vekeo.com/aarptexas/#event-33280

• 12:05 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11
  San Antonio
  Featuring:  Dr. Colleen Bridger of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.
  To participate, register at: https://vekeo.com/aarptexas/#event-33432

• 1 p.m Thursday, Feb. 11
  Fort Worth/Tarrant County
  Featuring: Dr. Kenton K. Murthy, assistant medical director and deputy local health authority, Tarrant County Health Department.
  Register to participate at: https://vekeo.com/aarptexas-2/#event-33415

• 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12
  Dallas County
  Featuring:  Dr. Phillip Huang, director and health authority for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, and Dr. Namirah Jamshed, associate professor in the departments of Internal Medicine and Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
  Sign up to participate at: https://vekeo.com/aarptexas/#event-33223
  

• 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17
  Houston/Harris County
  Featuring: Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Dr. David Persse of the Houston Health Authority, and Dr. Sherr Onyiego, local health authority for Harris County Public Health.
  To participate, register at: https://vekeo.com/aarptexas/#event-33389

• A previously scheduled event for Austin that was to take place on Thursday, Feb. 25, is being rescheduled. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will update with more information when the event is rescheduled.

• 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25
  Cameron County
  Featuring: Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño and Cameron County Public Health Authority Dr. James Castillo
  Register here: https://vekeo.com/aarptexas/#event-33505
  

On Jan. 26, AARP Texas hosted a tele-townhall with the state’s top health authority, Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, in which he reassured callers that the COVID-19 vaccines distributed in Texas are safe and highly effective, and he urged patience as they're distributed. Read more about that conversation here.