How North Texas COVID-19 vaccination sites are preparing for new influx of doses

DALLAS, TX— More coronavirus vaccines are on the way to North Texas, and so are more ways to for families to get vaccinated.

“This is awesome,” said Dr. Willie Johnson, principal of South Oak Cliff High School, which launched its vaccine distribution launch Saturday.

“This is something we’ve been advocating for for quite a bit,” said Dr. Johnson.

Pastor Maxie Johnson, the school board trustee for this district, said the site launched ready to administer 250 doses.

“This is a tremendous blessing to our community,” Pastor Johnson said. “In the middle of 75216, which has the highest COVID infection rate in the county of Dallas.”

The new site is just one of a number of ways COVID-19 vaccines will soon become more accessible with almost 2 million doses heading into the Lone Star State.

MedStar is joining forces with UNT Health Science Center to administer at-home doses starting in the next few days for people who are unable to make it to a traditional vaccination site, according to Matt Zavadsky, MedStar spokesperson.

“We’re excited to be able to start this process,” Zavadsky said. “This is just another strategy to try and expand the number of people that are getting vaccinated in the community.”

The City of Dallas is launching a similar program with The Visiting Nurse Association of Texas and Dallas Fire-Rescue. The first phase will start handing out 500 doses on Tuesday, April 13.

Larger vaccination sites could soon ramp up their distribution numbers. The site at Texas Motor Speedway will be ready to scale up its operations as more doses become available, according to Denton County Emergency Services.

Also in the works, a number of new smaller sites expected to come online in the next few weeks, including four new UNT Health Science Center locations in the Ridgmar area of Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington and Haltom City.

Additional sites like these and the new one at South Oak Cliff will be vital to getting more vaccines into underserved communities.

“Our job is to meet the need,” Pastor Johnson said. “I’m just honored to be able to serve our community.”