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When Margaret Thompson drove her 88-year-old mother to get her second COVID-19 shot at Dallas County’s Fair Park vaccine site, she expected to be in and out fairly quickly.
For the first shot, they were at the South Dallas hub barely half an hour, “including the 15-minute wait time,” Thompson said.
On Tuesday, they arrived around 1:30 p.m. but were still waiting in line 2½ hours later.
Thompson said they didn’t know what to expect when they came for the second shot — but “it wasn’t this.”
Dallas County was supposed to debut its multilane vaccine drive-through on Tuesday, but myriad problems not only delayed its opening but caused another day of long wait times. Contributing factors — according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins — were a temporary shortage of doses, colder-than-expected weather and missing generators needed to adequately store the vaccine, which requires a stable temperature after being thawed.
A rush of residents seeking their booster shots before the cold weather sets in this week and a new round of unauthorized appointments also caused bottlenecks.
The site is expected to open at noon on Wednesday, but cold weather predicted for the rest of this week could complicate vaccination efforts at Fair Park and around North Texas.
The frigid temperatures have already pushed at least one provider in a neighboring county to temporarily suspend operations later this week. Denton County announced that on Thursday it will close its Texas Motor Speedway site, which operated as usual Tuesday, in Fort Worth.
Ongoing problems
This was supposed to be the week that Dallas County’s Fair Park site got it all figured out.
The site opened a month ago this week, but it has faced setbacks from the start: technical glitches with its registration site, mixed messages about how to book appointments, and political infighting over who should be vaccinated and in what order.
As the site faces its biggest week yet — an anticipated 21,000 first and second doses — it has encountered a new set of problems.
Early Tuesday it became clear to the hub’s staff that generators needed to power equipment at the vaccine drive-through tents — located far from any electrical outlet — had not arrived. Of paramount concern to Dallas County officials: regulating the vaccine’s temperature. It was still unclear Tuesday night why the power sources did not show up.
After nixing plans to open up its expanded drive-through, Dallas County shuffled residents inside to the Tower Building, utilizing its existing vaccination setup. The county did run a limited drive-through option.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who represents southern Dallas County, was dismayed at another round of problems.
“It has nothing to do with the weather,” he said Tuesday. “The forecast is the same. It’s called incompetence.”
Chris Van Deusen, the state health department’s spokesman, acknowledged statewide confusion over the supply chain, especially amid recent changes made by the federal government. Both the state and local providers are required to order doses. But those deliveries can be staggered, creating a brief void.
Van Deusen said the state was tracking 400,000 doses that were supposed to be delivered Tuesday to hubs across Texas, including 9,000 to Dallas County’s Fair Park site.
“Every day we’re getting a little better,” he said.
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Winter weather
There’s no hope for mild weather over the next week, and vaccine hub operators are already making changes.
Highs much of this week are forecast to be in the 30s, with lows in the 20s. And by the weekend, lows could dip into the teens. When lows are in the teens, a light wind is enough to make it feel like temperatures are in the single digits.
Jenkins said he won’t hesitate to close the Fair Park site if conditions make it dangerous for residents to drive or volunteers to move through there.
“We’re in Texas, so we’re not going to have too many days like that,” he said. “We’ll be more than able to catch up if we have to delay.”
The city of Dallas is moving its check-in station at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center from an open parking lot to a covered section. On Tuesday, it did see a few short delays as people waited to get a vaccine.
Parkland Health & Hospital system’s drive-through vaccine sites at Ellis Davis Field House and Eastfield College were prepared to continue operating as expected. However, the sites will close if the wind chill drops below 20 degrees, a spokeswoman said.
Denton County, which organized one of the nation’s largest vaccine efforts last week, decided to close its hub Thursday in anticipation of severe winter weather. No appointments had been scheduled, officials said. Operations should resume Friday afternoon.
Texans awaiting their second shot should expect additional information from the county.
”While we know our community members are eager to be vaccinated, the health and safety of the attendees, staff and volunteers is most important,” Matt Richardson, Denton County’s health director, said in a statement. “We are hopeful the weather will be more cooperative Friday for a safe, efficient, and effective vaccine clinic.”
A Collin County spokesman said in an email that its hub operator “absolutely plans to soldier on.”
Tarrant County officials did not respond to a request for comment.