BROADCASTS.com

b'

EDINBURG, Texas - Hidalgo County and McAllen leaders recently held a news conference to announce that thousands of maquiladora workers from Reynosa would cross into the U.S. to be given a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is being administered within the Hidalgo International Bridge compound. Maquila workers are bused across the bridge and receive the vaccine from nurses whilst staying on the bus. The bus then returns to Reynosa.\\xa0

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez kicked off the news conference. He was joined by Eduardo Olivarez, Hidalgo County\\u2019s chief administrative officer for Health & Human Services, McAllen City Commissioner Pepe Cabeza de Vaca, Keith Patridge, president of McAllen Economic Development Corporation, and Steve Ahlenius, president of McAllen Chamber of Commerce.\\xa0

The other featured speakers were Foyl\\xe1n Yesces Cedillo, Mexico\\u2019s consul in McAllen, and Humberto Martinez, president of Index Reynosa, the maquiladora trade association.\\xa0

Cortez said the program is called the Essential Economic Trade Initiative.

\\u201cIt involves vaccinating maquiladora workers in Reynosa with unused COVID-19 vaccines before they expire. Our initial goal is to vaccinate up to 3,000 workers but our hope is we will vaccinate more as we receive more unused vaccines from across the state when they become available,\\u201d Cortez said.

\\u201cI want to make it clear that no U.S. citizens will be denied any vaccine or anyone who wants one from our area hospitals, private pharmacies, UTRGV, or even our Hidalgo County clinics. This program uses left over vaccines that are soon to expire to vaccinate maquila workers before the vaccines are destroyed.\\u201d

Cortez noted that similar programs have been started in San Diego, California, and the Texas border cities of El Paso and Brownsville.

\\u201cWe think this as a good thing. We view this as a smart, economic move aimed at restoring to normal one of our region\\u2019s biggest economic engines, which is the maquiladora industry,\\u201d Cortez said.

Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service website.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.