What to know about COVID-19 vaccine in Fort Worth and Tarrant County
Are you eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine? And can it be less complicated?
As Texas and Tarrant County begin to vaccinate, the roll out hasn’t exactly been smooth. So we created this guide of frequently asked questions that we hope offers some clarity.
How do I know if I can get a vaccine?
For now Texas allows two categories of people to receive the vaccine. The state groups them as 1A and 1B.
1A: Healthcare workers and residents at long-term care facilities/nursing homes.
1B: Anyone over 65 or anyone over the age of 16 who has a chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for COVID-19 complications. The chronic conditions include but are not limited to: cancer, sickle cell disease, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and heart conditions. Also, pregnant women over 16 are in group 1B.
When will I know if I can get a vaccine if I don’t fit within one of those groups?
That’s to be determined by the Department of State Health Services, and we have no idea yet who the future eligible groups will be or when they’ll be able to receive a vaccine. It could be at least a few weeks: Two million Texans belong to group 1A and millions more to group 1B. And as of January 5, 439,000 people had received one dose of vaccination, according to DSHS.
How do I get a vaccine if I am eligible?
If you’re a health care worker, i.e. eligible through 1A, contact your employer. And if you’re in a long-term care facility (or wanting to check on somebody who lives in a long-term care facility), contact the facility. CVS has set up a program for vaccinating Texas facilities, and at least 200 in Tarrant County have registered, according to public health officials. (The process may be complicated in nursing homes hit hard by COVID, as people who are infected or quarantining are not supposed to receive the vaccine until they’re clear of the virus.)
For the general public, you can apply to get a vaccine through a private provider or through Tarrant County Public Health Department. You must book an appointment either way (online or by phone). Walk-ins are not allowed.
Private provider: You can look up clinics, hospitals and pharmacies offering vaccinations on the Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 vaccine information page. You can find a location nearest you and then call or look up the clinic’s website to make a reservation. Many private providers in DFW are still focusing only on group 1A for vaccinations, meaning they are not vaccinating any of the general public yet.
Tarrant County Public Health: Register for a vaccine online or call 817-248-6299.
(All vaccines are supposed to be free, regardless of whether you’re insured.)
Is it easier to get a vaccine through a private provider or Tarrant County Public Health?
Many people have successfully received vaccines in Tarrant County (at least 22,000 and likely a lot more), but many people have attempted to get a vaccine and been frustrated by a lack of availability. This is happening at private clinics, hospitals and pharmacies, where you can find numerous complaints from people trying to book a vaccine reservation and failing. And it is happening at Tarrant County Public Health, where officials say 136,000 eligible people have registered to get a vaccine and only about 8,300 have received one. Public Health Director Vinny Taneja, said, simply, “the demand has outstripped the supply.”
This is not what anybody wants to hear right now, but you may have to call around or visit the websites of many places before you find a willing private provider. You may have to continue checking back in over the next several days or even weeks just to find out when vaccines are readily available for the general public in group 1B. There was only light coordination and planning at state and federal levels, so it is incredibly difficult to find which providers have enough supply to vaccinate group 1B right now, unless you check with providers individually.
The state is supposed to be working on a website that will make it easier for the public to view multiple providers at once and register. It’s not live yet but may be later this month.
As for Tarrant County Public Health, you may have to wait several days or longer before hearing back after you register to get a vaccine. But Tarrant County Public Health has been vaccinating people in group 1B.
What can I expect if I register with Tarrant County Public Health?
After you register, you are supposed to receive a confirmation email or phone call. This confirmation does not indicate that you are ready to get the vaccination. A follow-up call, text and email should arrive later that gives you an appointment.
The length of time between registration and appointment varies, but we spoke with Gus Reese, who was vaccinated Jan. 5. He is part of group 1B. He registered online Dec. 29 and received an appointment message on Jan. 3.
But Reese said one of his friends, also in group 1B, registered around the same time and heard back for an appointment in less than a day. Meanwhile, many other people have complained about never hearing back from Tarrant County Public Health after registering.
We’re waiting to hear back from Tarrant County Public Health officials about why appointment times have been inconsistent and will update if we do.
So why is it taking so long and will it get better?
As mentioned above, state and federal coordination has been heavily criticized for complicating the efforts of vaccine providers and making it difficult for average people to find where vaccines are available. And all this comes after months of clashes between local public health departments and state officials.
The Tarrant County Public Health Department recommends patience. It is one of the few public health agencies in Texas to have received so many vaccine doses — about 15,000, compared to 1,200 for Dallas County public health, effectively turning its Fort Worth location for vaccines into what Taneja described as a mass vaccination testing site. “The national plan and state plan did not call for this. And then they give us this,” he said. “We get it and we’ll make it happen. It just takes a little time to put an operation together.”
Tarrant County Commissioners discussed opening a mass vaccination site at the Hurst Convention Center. Judge Glen Whitley told WFAA he had proposed, through the Texas Division of Emergency Management, setting up several more sites (right now Tarrant County Public Health has sites only in Fort Worth and Arlington). Commissioner Roy Brooks stated at the Jan. 5 commissioners meeting he wanted Tarrant County to ramp up vaccinations to 100,000 a day, and that lofty goal would likely require dozens more public and private vaccination sites.
The success of Texas’ vaccination program will come down to better planning and increased supply. Of 1.3 million vaccine doses shipped throughout the state, about one-third have been administered. The supply, at least, does appear to be picking up. Total vaccine shipments to Texas have increased from 225,000 doses per week in mid-December to more than 500,000 doses this week.
And those long lines I saw online?
Those were for vaccines from Tarrant County Public Health at the Fort Worth site on Jan. 4. They were extremely long and the result of people showing up without appointments and more people showing up for appointments than expected, Taneja said.
We’ve heard anecdotally the lines were not as long on Jan. 5. Reese, who got the vaccination Jan. 5, was originally scheduled to get his shot a day earlier. The line was so long that he received a notification from Tarrant County Public Health to come back the next day. When he came back, there was almost no line, he said.
To avoid creating lines, health officials recommend arriving on time for your reservation, and, again, not showing up without a reservation.
What is the best way to make an appointment, over phone or online?
Seems like online is the best option. The Tarrant County Public Health Department has been receiving up to 3,500 calls a day with long waiting times. And it has to balance those calls with calls for contact tracing and other health department tasks.
As for private providers, the online route appears best, too, if available. Debbie Garza, chief executive of the Texas Pharmacy Association, told the Texas Tribune that phone calls have bogged down pharmacy staff. CVS recommends downloading its app, which is supposed to alert registered users when they can schedule appointments.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 6:24 PM.
