Dallas City Councilors say people are confused about the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines

Updated at 18:20 to include more details about the meeting.

Dallas officials say residents remain confused by the COVID-19 vaccination process.

The residents are not alone. Some city councilors said Monday they were dealing with their own frustrations over public and internal communications over the implementation.

Several councilors have said that issues with Dallas County’s communications about how and when people can be vaccinated at the Fair Park magazine, as well as the mayor’s tendency to disclose updates via news release, cause people to be notified and to do so. contribute to residents not being helped as quickly as possible.

“The confusion is going to get worse, and there could be a bit of anger,” said Councilor David Blewett. ‘Honestly, I do not think we are all on the same page, and it is clear that we are not.

“I just do not think we do a very good job.”

The city and province are trying to ensure that the most vulnerable residents are able to register and receive COVID-19 vaccinations, but the demand for vaccinations far exceeds the supply. Preliminary data also show that there are differences.

The mass vaccination site was set up to address the lack of authorized providers of the vaccine in southern Dallas, where residents have been hit hard by the virus.

As of Monday, more than 380,000 people have registered with Dallas County to receive the vaccine in Fair Park, and more than 18,800 doses have been administered since the website opened on January 11th.

The city will receive its own direct allocation of 5,000 doses from the state and plans to give shots on Thursday.

Rocky Vaz, Dallas’ director of emergency management, said the city plans to vaccinate prominent health care workers, people 65 and older and those with a chronic medical condition. A driveway will be set up in a downtown parking garage at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. He promises clear communication on how people are selected to receive the doses, when they should come in and when they should return for their second shot.

Vaz also said there will be a section on the city’s website with ‘frequently asked questions’ and a staff member dedicated to informing councilors. At this point, he said, data showed that the proximity of vaccination centers did not equate to better access to the shots.

“We can plan the places wherever we want, but the challenge is that we do not have vaccines,” Vaz said. ‘Even though we set up websites, [residents] the registration process must still be followed, and there is no guarantee that it will have any priority to get vaccines at a specific location. ”

Vaccine access

Councilor Chad West, Adam Bazaldua and Paula Blackmon said they had convened a special meeting on Monday night to discuss the distribution process of vaccines, how councilors communicate with each other and whether city manager TC Broadnax should give more authority during an emergency.

At the meeting, which took place at midnight, the council voted 10-5 to allow Broadnax to authorize the use of city staff, laptops, personal protective equipment and other resources in the city to help set up premises. where people can sign up to get a vaccination.

West, Bazaldua and Blackmon were among six councilors who asked Broadnax last week for city staff to set up the registration centers in their districts. According to them, the online sign-up process has benefited people who have computers and reliable internet access.

Johnson told Broadnax to ignore the board members’ requests, saying board members should have come to him and that the data should determine where registration sites are located.

Johnson later announced that the city would set up vaccination registration works in “underserved areas of the city.” As of Tuesday, the public has not been told where the sites would be and when they would open.

Board members have set up or are working on pop-up registration opportunities. West, who has worked with officials and volunteers in the community, last week organized three registration events in north Oak Cliff where more than 700 people signed up to get vaccinated, he said.

Bazaldua said during Monday’s meeting that he was picking up 20 laptops from the country to hold registration events in his district. He accused Johnson of holding laptops hostage in the city.

Emergency

In a 10-4 vote, the council rejected a proposal that Johnson would request to provide public updates to the council every two weeks on the city’s emergency. Bazaldua did not vote.

A separate proposal to appoint Broadnax as coordinator of the City of Dallas’ emergency response during the pandemic has been withdrawn after a debate.

State law designates Johnson in his role as mayor as the one overseeing Dallas’ disaster response, giving him emergency powers, such as developing and organizing plans for the use of city facilities, staff, equipment and other resources.

The mayor is authorized to elect another official to coordinate the response. The duties of the coordinator include recommending areas to be evacuated and setting up curfews. Johnson selected Vaz for the role. Vaz, as well as the rest of the city staff, usually report to Broadnax. But in matters related to the city’s COVID-19 emergency response, Vaz reports directly to the mayor.

Councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold said Broadnax was easier to work with than Johnson and was more responsible for the city council because they hired him. She said Johnson usually does not communicate with board members outside of emails, public meetings and news conferences. She indicated that she and the mayor had not spoken for a year.

“We just have to stop playing and just face the fact that what we have here is this constant struggle back and forth, and the fighting and the refusal of the mayor’s office to work with the city manager,” she said. said.

Johnson did not address her statement and gave no indication during the meeting that he would change how he communicates with board members. Public clashes between the mayor and several councilors have taken place continuously over the past year, including during the budget debate.

On Monday, the mayor repeatedly said he thought the meeting was unnecessary. He also said that while he understands why some prefer Broadnax to have more authority during disasters, if they want the emergency processes to change, they should ‘talk to the legislature about it’.

“The reality is that the mayor – whoever it is – in a disaster is the emergency management director,” Johnson said, “and it is the emergency management coordinator who elects the mayor.”