coronavirus

Dallas County Reports 1,377 COVID-19 Cases, 13 More Deaths Sunday

Dallas County Health and Human Services has administered more than 12,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at its Fair Park site since Monday

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Health officials in Dallas County are reporting 1,377 COVID-19 cases Sunday -- the county's lowest single-day case count since Dec. 29 -- along with 13 more deaths.

Dallas County Health and Human Services has reported 17,406 new cases of the coronavirus in the last week -- an average of 2,487 cases per day.

The rising case numbers come as DCHHS races to vaccinate people in high-risk populations as quickly as possible, a day after the county confirmed its first case of a COVID-19 variant said to be more contagious.

Officials said they had vaccinated 12,122 people at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic since it opened Monday. Next week, DCHHS said there will be about 6,000 first doses of the vaccine available at the site.

Of the cases reported Sunday, the county said 1,311 were confirmed cases and 66 were probable (antigen test) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March 2020 to 207,640 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 26,985. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the county is now at 234625.

County officials said Saturday there have been 1,871 deaths in the county attributed to the virus since March 2020. The 13 victims announced Sunday included nine Dallas residents, one Balch Springs resident, one Garland resident, one Lancaster resident and one Mesquite resident. The victims ranged in age from their 40s to their 80s. All had been hospitalized and had underlying health conditions, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services.

COVID-19 VACCINE EFFORTS

In partnership with the state health department, Dallas County opened a large-scale vaccine hub at Fair Park on Monday where they planned to administer up to 2,000 vaccines per day for those in Phase 1A and 1B. The vaccination center does not accept walk-ups and you must have an appointment to get vaccinated. Register for an appointment at the link below. The county is also planning on providing vaccines at two other locations in the county where they can administer an additional 1,000 vaccines per day.

Want to Get on a Vaccine Waitlist?

County health departments have launched waitlists for adults 16 years old and over.

You can register to recieve the vaccination in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties. Links are below:

Waitlist Links: Collin - Search Waitlist | Dallas | Denton | Tarrant

You do not need to be a resident of the county to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in that county -- registration is open to anyone in Texas. For those without internet access, Tarrant County is also taking registrations by phone at 817-248-6299. In Dallas County, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 1-855-IMMUNE9 (1-855-466-8639). In Denton County, call 940-349-2585.

For a more detailed breakdown of who is included in each priority group in Texas, see this page from the Texas DSHS.

The vaccine is currently only being administered to those who are part of Phase 1A and 1B, as outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those in Phase 1A are front-line healthcare workers or residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B includes those who are over the age of 65, or those over the age of 16 with a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness.

Once vaccinated, people are expected to get some level of protection within a couple of weeks after the first shot, but full protection may not happen until a couple of weeks after the second shot. Even when fully vaccinated, it's still possible to become infected by the virus since the vaccine does not offer 100% protection.

The Texas Department of State Health Services announced Saturday it was expanding the number of vaccine hubs across the state. It includes five in Dallas County.

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