The last day of 2020 marked another busy day of vaccine inoculations across Tarrant County with the City of Arlington and Tarrant County using the last doses of their first shipments.
This week, the City of Arlington received 3,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. They used their remaining 350 within two hours on Thursday morning.
“At 3,000, we had enough for Phase 1A which was going to cover first responders and healthcare workers,” Arlington fire chief Don Crowson said. “Tuesday afternoon, the state said those over the age of 65 could be vaccinated. So, they started showing up at our site and we didn’t turn them away. So, we quickly ran out of the vaccine. That’s fine. We’ll get another batch and we’ll start again. We’ll address the people who are qualified under the current conditions established by the state.”
A family nurse practitioner who did not want to be identified by her full name said she pre-registered before arriving in Arlington on Thursday, but she left without her shot.
“I’m just a little frustrated. It’s my morning off. I have little time off, and I use that time wisely,” she explained to NBC 5. “I’m happy that there are vaccines, but I was frustrated I didn’t get an email or anything stating we were out.”
Crowson said their next batch could arrive as early as next week, and they'll change the process of registration to better manage expectations.
“We’re going to stop the external registration process and only do registrations here based on the number of doses we receive,” he said. “So, if we receive 5,000 doses… on Monday, we want to do 1,000. We’ll let 1,000 in the door. We’ll register those individuals in here. That’s how we’ll process them.”
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Tarrant County Public Health held a vaccine clinic on Circle Drive in Fort Worth on Thursday as well. A department spokesperson said they are urging people in the 1A and 1B groups to register in advance. They are turning away people who did not pre-register or do not qualify at this time.
Don Gregory said he waited about an hour and 30 minutes on Thursday.
“Obviously, we have a lot of people here who are very committed. So, the process doesn’t seem to be affected by the weather, the wind or the rain,” Gregory said. “I’m really happy to see the way Tarrant County is handling this. You get a specific appointment date, a specific appointment time. So, you don’t have to come and stand in a line like this for nothing.”
A spokesperson for the City of Arlington said those who were pre-registered but were unable to get a vaccine this week can receive their shot in the next round with their registrations honored.
