Judge Clay Jenkins, County of Dallas, agrees with state over COVID-19 awards in North Texas

AUSTIN – North Texas is getting more doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week, but Dallas judge Clay Jenkins says the state is still running out of residents with their fair share of shots.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Dallas County distributes approximately 9,000 more first doses among various providers.

Jenkins said the addition comes nowhere near the number of shots the state has fired since the federal government opened a site in Dallas County that vaccinates about 21,000 people each week.

The state counts doses given on the federally supported site as part of the province’s allocation, although these shots are only for the region’s most vulnerable residents in specific neighborhoods. That means the state is sending fewer doses to the province’s hubs that everyone who qualifies must be vaccinated, regardless of where they live, Jenkins said.

The waiting list for the places contains about 650,000 people, he added.

“There was never the notion that the state would punish the other people in Dallas County for helping people in Dallas County,” he said.

The Department of State Health Services defended its decision. Spokesman Chris Van Deusen said before the Federal Emergency Management Agency website opened, Dallas County had already received more than an average of the vaccine per capita.

‘Doubling it just would not be fair; it will not be fair to the rest of the state, ”he said. There are still some urban and suburban communities that are not trapped where they should be, Van Deusen added.

The conflict shows that the demand for the coronavirus vaccine is still much better than the supply.

About 1.7 million Texans have been fully vaccinated, state data show. But Texas’ first two priority groups for the vaccine, which include leading health care workers and people 65 and older, number about 10 million residents.

The state will receive nearly 700,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week – one of its largest shipments.

As a result, the number of vaccines the state has allocated to suppliers in the provinces of Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant will all increase. Both Dallas and Tarrant provinces earmarked 21,060 doses of their total for FEMA sites.

The chips in Dallas County and small vendors are not included, and they will receive approximately 34,000 first doses next week. It has risen from about 24,700 first doses last week.

In the three weeks before that, when a federal website was not yet open, providers and hubs in Dallas hubs were allocated between 42,000 and 48,000 first doses, according to state data.

Jenkins usually said counties receive a federal grant for something like body cameras. As the state receives more doses going forward, Dallas County vaccines should also see their allocation rise, not fall, he said.

Vaccine shipments to Texas are expected to grow only, especially with the expected approval of a third Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Unlike the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, it requires only one dose.