Tarrant opens COVID vaccine mega-site, will treat people from surrounding counties
Tarrant County opened a COVID-19 vaccination site at the Hurst Conference Center on Tuesday with the hope of vaccinating thousands a day.
The county conducted a soft opening, where about 300 people will be vaccinated, said Vinny Taneja, the county’s public health director. The goal is to eventually vaccinate 2,000 people a day. This follows the opening of Dallas County’s mega site at Fair Park on Monday.
With a bigger location, officials hope they will address the issue with long lines and the number of people who have to wait outside in harsh winter weather. The location will allow people to wait inside and a covered parking garage will provide cover when lines stretch to the outside.
So far, Tarrant County Public Health has distributed 23,000 doses.
The county’s initial location at the Tarrant County Conference and Recreation Center will continue to operate as a vaccination site. For first responders and health care workers, the county has designated the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex in Fort Worth as a vaccination center.
Arlington’s site at the Esports Stadium will also continue to operate with about 2,000 doses administered a day.
Texas Health Resources has also partnered with the county and will have locations for Tarrant County residents in Fort Worth, Lake Worth and Bedford, Taneja said. More 7,000 county residents have been sent to one of these Texas Health Resources locations. A similar partnership is in the works with John Peter Smith Hospital.
As of now, Taneja said the county is sending people to locations based on appointment availability, but it hopes to start sending people to their closest vaccination site in the coming weeks.
People being vaccinated now include first responders, health care workers, people 65 and over and those under 65 with an underlying health condition. People can register at the county’s website or call 817-248-6299.
Taneja said people must be patient if they call the county to register or ask questions about their appointment because there is a limited staff for the number of calls. At one point, the county received 17,000 calls in a day, he said.
Officials are looking for outside services that can help with the volume of calls.
A day after Gov. Greg Abbott said Texans may receive the vaccine anywhere in the state, County Judge Whitley said he reached out to residents of Parker, Ellis, Johnson, Hood, Somervell, Erath, Palo Pinto, Wise, Montague and Cook counties. He said these rural counties don’t have the ability to open their own sites.
To have enough vaccines, the state will allocate more doses to Tarrant County for the residents coming in from these other counties.
“They’re under our umbrella,” Whitley said.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 2:41 PM.
