Thousands of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Will Be Available to Houston Restaurant Workers Next Week

Next week, Houston’s restaurant and hospitality workers will have access to thousands doses of the COVID-19 vaccine via a two-day clinic held at Smart Financial Centre.

The clinic will operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, April 19 and Tuesday, April 20 at 18111 Lexington Boulevard in Sugar Land, with 12,000 doses of the vaccine available only to people who work in the service industry. The clinic is a partnership between the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Food and Wine Alliance, Memorial Hermann Health Systems, and restaurateur Tilman Fertitta’s Fertitta Entertainment, and will distribute 6,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine each day.

“Now that vaccine eligibility has opened up across Texas, this opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot is an important added safety measure that helps all hospitality industry employees feel safe and comfortable as we continue to welcome more and more guests back inside our restaurants,” Fertitta said in a statement.

Service industry workers who are over the age of 16 and would like to obtain the vaccine at this clinic must register in advance via Memorial Hermann’s online portal, and folks who try to walk in without an appointment will be turned away. Upon arrival at the clinic, workers will need to provide photo identification that “matches the name and date of birth on the appointment confirmation,” according to a release.

This partnership will also bring more vaccine clinics to Texas cities in the coming months, including an upcoming clinic in San Antonio on April 27 and April 28. Find out more via the Great Hospitality Worker Vaccine Drive’s website.