February 12, 2021

Tony Robinson, Regional Administrator

Federal Emergency Management Administration
800 N Loop 288,
Denton, TX 76209

Dear Regional Administrator Robinson,

Thank you for taking the time to join the call with Dr. Colleen Bridger, Chief Charles Hood and the
rest of the City team on February 9, 2021. We are appreciative of the longstanding partnership
with you and your team.

We are writing to formally request your assistance in locating a Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) mass vaccination site in the San Antonio region. We have the capacity, readiness,
and need to increase vaccination distribution and administration. We urge you to make San
Antonio the next community to host one of these sites and to set up the site as quickly as possible.
If FEMA cannot or will not locate a site in our community at this time, please send us additional
vaccine supply so we can establish the site ourselves. One of our current mass vaccination clinics
– the Alamodome – has not received new first dose allocations in nearly three weeks; without
additional supply, it will have to close.

We applaud the work of President Biden and FEMA to increase the availability of COVID-19
vaccines to underserved communities in the three planned pilot sites in Houston and the Dallas-
Fort Worth areas. The need in our region is just as great. In addition to being the third most
populous area in the state, Bexar County is ranked first in the Centers for Disease Control’s Social
Vulnerability Index. This index measures a community’s need for support to prepare and respond
to events such as the current pandemic and considers factors such as poverty, access to
transportation, housing, and healthcare. Our community’s vulnerability is also reflected in the
ultimate impact of COVID-19. Bexar County has suffered more deaths per capita than the other
large population centers in the state.
Our organizations and partners have successfully established four large vaccinations centers
across our community, prioritizing high risk groups and those most in need. We have continually
innovated by using Community Health Prevention teams to go door-to-door to register eligible
residents in targeted areas and utilizing Meals on Wheels to vaccinate homebound seniors. We
request your full consideration and expedient action in the establishment of a federally
supported mass vaccination site in San Antonio.

Respectfully,

Ron Nirenberg,
Mayor, City of San Antonio

Cc:
Luis Saenz, Office of the Texas Governor
Nim Kidd, Texas Department of Emergency Management

Attachment: Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) in Bexar County