These Dallas-Fort Worth suppliers are among Texas’ 28 vaccination centers

These Dallas-Fort Worth suppliers are among Texas’ 28 vaccination centers

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Six agencies in Dallas-Fort Worth will serve as COVID-19 vaccination centers while Texas moves to a centralized approach to spreading the shots, the state announced Sunday.

In Dallas County, the Department of Health, the UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Parkland Health and Hospital System have been designated by the Department of State Health Services as hubs.

In Tarrant County, the Department of Health and Texas Health Resources were designated by the state as hubs. And the sixth is Denton County Department of Health.

The counties of Collin, Rockwall and Ellis are not on the state list. Providers will not exclusively vaccinate people living in their respective provinces.

Why are Texas creating vaccination centers?

State officials said their goal is to send the most vaccinations, Texas being allocated to major hubs to streamline the vaccinations.

This week, the 28 hubs will receive 158,825 doses of the vaccine, and 38,300 doses will go to other providers across the state, according to a news release.

“The idea is to concentrate a lot of the vaccine in a smaller number of places so that there will be a more centralized opportunity to vaccinate people,” said Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for the health department. The Dallas Morning News.

Van Deusen added on Sunday that the state had asked the selected providers to vaccinate people in surrounding areas as well.

The vaccines were awarded based on the number of people each provider estimates it can serve within a week.

Joe McKay will receive the Modern COVID-19 vaccine from Arlington Firefighter Derek O'Neill at Esports Stadium Arlington & Expo Center on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 in Arlington. The Tarrant County Public Health Vaccination Program (TCHP) is being implemented by the Arlington Fire Department as part of the city's massive vaccination effort. (Smiley N. Pool / The Dallas Morning News)

Who can get vaccinated at one of the hubs now?

Anyone in the first two levels – Phase 1A and 1B – of the state’s vaccination priority list, can be vaccinated according to any state center, regardless of where they live, according to the Department of Health.

Phase 1A includes leading healthcare professionals and residents of long-term care facilities, and Phase 1B includes someone 65 or older or someone with a chronic medical condition who is at higher risk if they contract COVID-19.

Doctors look at a CT image of the lung in a hospital in Xiaogan, China.

Do people need appointments?

The state has urged anyone looking for a vaccine at one of the 28 hubs not to just show up. “First find out if walk-ups are accepted”, the health department advises on its website.

In North Texas, several providers have set up registration sites where people can indicate that they are eligible and want a vaccine. The state health department provided links to the website of each vaccination center provider.

What is Dallas County planning to distribute the vaccine?

Dallas County announced last week that it plans to start a “mega” vaccination site at Fair Park, where the state hopes to vaccinate thousands of people a day.

Shots are only available by appointment for people who have registered online.

The tower building (left) in Fair Park in Dallas will be taken down on Thursday, January 7, 2021.

Are these the only places to get vaccines?

People eligible for shots could get vaccinated by other providers, but there is no comprehensive list of the providers or the number of doses available.

The state says most doses allocated to Texas will start after the 28 hubs announced Sunday.

How many doses does each hub get this week?

Here is the breakdown of the vaccines for the 28 hubs according to the health department:

Dallas county

  • Dallas County Health and Human Services, 6000 doses
  • Parkland Hospital, 6,825 doses
  • UT Southwestern Medical Center, 10,000 doses

Tarrant county

  • Public Health in Tarrant County, 9,000 Doses
  • Texas Health Resources, 10,050 doses

Denton county

  • Denton County Public Health, 3,500 doses

Bell county

  • Bell County Public Health District, 3900 doses

Bexar County

  • San Antonio Metro Health District, 9,000 doses
  • University Health System, 10 725 doses

Brazos county

  • CHI St. Joseph College Station Hospital, 1200 doses

Cameron County

  • Public Health in Cameron County, 6000 Doses

El paso county

  • El Paso Fire Department, 5,000 doses
  • El Paso University Medical Center, 5,000 doses

Harris county

  • Harris County Public Health, 8,000 doses
  • Houston Department of Health, 8,000 doses
  • Houston Methodist Hospital, 10,725 doses

Hidalgo county

  • Renaissance Medical Hospital, 6,500 doses
  • Hidalgo County Health and Human Services, 5,000 doses

Lubbock county

  • City Lubbock Department of Health, 5,000 doses

Maverick county

  • Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, 1200 doses

Mclennan county

  • Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, 1,500 doses
  • Ascension Providence Hospital, 1,500 doses

Nueces county

  • Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District, 4000 doses

Potter county

  • Amarillo Department of Public Health, 5,000 doses

Smith county

  • Northeast Texas Public Health District, 1500 doses
  • UT Health Science Center Tyler, 1,500 doses

Travis county

  • Austin Public Health, 12,000 doses

Webb County

  • City of Laredo Department of Health, 1200 doses
An illustration image obtained on February 27, 2020 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows the coronavirus, COVID-19.

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