Tarrant County has had issues with its COVID vaccine rollout. Is it getting better?
After almost a month of waiting, Katherine Dooley received the coronavirus vaccine.
Dooley, 71, said she felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders when she received her vaccination Jan. 27 at Texas Health Resources in Lake Worth. She said the process at Texas Health was seamless, but getting there wasn’t stress-free.
Dooley registered for the vaccine with Tarrant County Public Health on Dec. 30 and received a confirmation email the next day. More than 500,000 people have registered, 81% of whom are eligible for an appointment.
Dooley, of Azle, had no complaints about the process until she learned that three of her friends who registered after her were vaccinated before her appointment.
“I’ve always been a rule follower and I’m trying to follow the rules, but the rules keep changing,” Dooley said.
Dooley, of Azle, is among those who have felt that the vaccine rollout hasn’t gone their way, whether it is long waits on the county COVID-19 hotline, not knowing a place in line, or being confused about the second dose.
Vinny Taneja, the county’s public health director, has said problems occur when people do not fill out the form correctly or fill it out more than once. With hundreds of thousands of registrations, he said, the staff has been overwhelmed investigating problems.
In Dooley’s case, she was transferred to Texas Health Resources, which is helping Tarrant County with its vaccination efforts. Once she was transferred, her appointment became the hospital’s responsibility, Taneja said. The same happens if people are transferred to the county’s other partners in Arlington or at John Peter Smith Hospital.
Taneja said one of the most common issues he’s seen is that a husband and wife will register on the same day, but they don’t get the same appointment. This is because hundreds registered at the same time they did.
The average wait time for an appointment is three to four weeks for those who are eligible, Tanea said. He urged patience because the county has limited vaccines but hundred of thousands to vaccinate.
PRIORITIZATION
When vaccinations first opened to Texas’ 1b group, which includes anyone 65 or older and anyone 16 or older with an underlying health condition, providers had to also vaccinate those in the 1a group, which includes health care workers and residents at long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
Taneja said on Jan. 12 that the front line workers will be vaccinated faster because they are a priority, causing the 1b group to move slower.
The county has also been allocating between 25% and 50% of its vaccines to the county’s hardest hit ZIP codes.
By prioritizing hard-hit ZIP codes, the county hopes to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. But this also causes shifts in the registration list because people from the ZIP codes are being put toward the front of the line, a Tarrant County public health spokesperson said.
THE SECOND DOSE
With almost two months of vaccinations in the works, people are still saying they would still like to receive a set appointment for their second dose.
Jane Rich, of Fort Worth, received her second dose on Jan. 25 at the Arlington vaccination site, but said it was difficult to find the exact time for the second dose. When she got her first dose on Dec. 30, she did not receive information about a second appointment — only the date she needed it.
Rich, like many, wasn’t going to sit around and wait. She called Tarrant County COVID-19 hotline and on one occasion the wait was going to be up to four hours. Eventually, she got notification that she had an appointment around the time she was due for her second dose.
Richard Fegan, an Arlington Fire Department spokesperson, said officials need to make sure the second doses are arriving before they set an appointment.
The general assumption is that they receive the same number of second doses as the first shipment. But to be safe, officials would rather wait until they have the doses than make appointments without them, Fegan said. Arlington usually notifies people through text or email.
“Remain patient throughout the process and trust that we will notify everyone,” Fegan said.
Arlington and Tarrant County are working together on notifying people through email and calls to come in for their second dose, Taneja said. They will notify people 24 to 48 hours before their second dose appointment.
Texas Health Resources handles its own appointments, and Dooley said she was able to make her appointment with them right after getting her first shot.
“That was lovely,” she said.
IT’S GETTING BETTER
Since the county started its vaccination efforts, officials have tried to make things easier.
When the first vaccinations started of the 1b group started in late December, there were complaints of long lines, people standing out in the cold weather and a disorganized operation.
Rich remembers waiting in the cold for two hours to get inside for her vaccination. When she went in for her second dose, she was in and out in about 30 minutes.
“It was unbelievable how they’d gotten their act together,” she said.
Dooley had a similar experience at Texas Health Resources.
County officials also launched a system that allows people to check their status, and a mega-site opened at the Hurst Conference Center to accommodate more people.
But there are still hiccups as the county looks to equitably distribute the vaccine. Of those who have received a vaccination, 5% are Black and 6% are Hispanic or Latino.
The county is working with the UNT Health Science Center on a contract to have UNT take over the county’s vaccination efforts.
County Judge Glen Whitley feared the county will not be able to distribute a potential wave of incoming vaccines if a deal wasn’t reached.
“We’ve got to be ready at a moment’s notice to take the double or the triple of the number of vaccines we’re getting,” Whitley said Wednesday.
The county is also looking to open two drive-thru sites on Fort Worth school district property, school officials announced Friday.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
