All adults in the U.S. will be eligible for a COVID-19 vacine by May 1, President Joe Biden said in a primetime address Thursday night.
Dallas County officials said Friday they were working to reach the goal, but supply is the challenge. The officials added they are being shortchanged in the limited Texas supply.
The state of Texas announced Friday it would receive 200,000 fewer doses next week compared with this week -- around 800,000 compared with more than 1 million.
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At a vaccine registration event in West Dallas Friday, Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia said the rate of vaccination in Dallas County has increased from around 6,000 a week to about that many each day.
“We’re moving along but it’s not enough," she said. "We are very optimistic that the whole region will get more vaccine so we can vaccinate more people faster."
County Judge Clay Jenkins complained Friday that Dallas and Tarrant counties have received far less than their fair share of doses for their share of the Texas population.
“The last few weeks they've shortchanged just our two counties over 175,000 vaccines," Jenkins said. "And that doesn't even count all the vaccines they're going to shortchange us next week."
According to an article by Becker's Hospital Review, figures from the Centers for Disease Control show that Texas ranks 38th in the U.S. in the rate of vaccine administration versus distribution. The figures suggest around 72% of distributed vaccines have made it into the arms of Texas patients and nearly 28% may have been unused.
Jenkins said Dallas and Tarrant counties could put all those doses to good use.
“We don’t have that problem here in Dallas and Tarrant county. Every vaccine we get we administer within a week of getting it,” Jenkins said. “We're not asking for other people's vaccines. We're only asking for that portion that is ours.”
At the registration event, Garcia said signing everyone up even before they are eligible for vaccination will prepare them to meet Biden's May 1 vaccination goal when supplies improve and eligibility expands.
“I think it's ambitious but it’s good to have high goals,” Garcia said. “And keep registering people so they get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
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.
