Texas may receive initial coronavirus vaccine doses for 1.4 million people this month, Gov. Greg Abbott says

Texas could receive coronavirus vaccine doses to give an initial dose to up to 1.4 million Texans in December, assuming U.S. health officials approve coronavirus vaccine candidates from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has promised to send Texas as many as 1.4 million doses of forthcoming vaccines in the month of December, Abbott said. The vaccines require two doses per person, and state health officials have said health care workers will be first in line.

Abbott said the vaccine candidates would likely arrive in Texas the week of Dec. 14. A second shipment is expected to arrive in January.

"The State of Texas is already prepared for the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, and will swiftly distribute these vaccines to Texans who voluntarily choose to be immunized," Abbott said in a news release. "As we await the first shipment of these vaccines, we will work with communities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."