COVID-19 Vaccinations Ramping up in Tarrant County

Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) has expanded COVID-19 vaccination efforts to include three treatment locations, where wait times have been reduced, according to a county spokesperson. 

Residents can sign up for vaccines through a new online portal. The initial online registration process takes around 30 minutes, said county spokesperson Brian Murnahan, and the average wait time from registration to appointment is several weeks. Once registered individuals arrive for their appointment at one of three locations — ESports Center (1200 Ballpark Way, Arlington), Tarrant County Resource Connection (2300 Circle Dr), and the Hurst Conference Center (1601 Campus Dr) — the average wait time from arrival to release is just under 30 minutes.  

Tarrant County is partnering with Texas Health Resources, which manages 24 hospitals across North Texas, to provide additional vaccination locations. 

“Please be sure to fill out the forms the best you can,” Murnahan continued. “Once you receive your confirmation, please sit tight, and we will reach out when it’s your turn. Please don’t call the hotline at 817-268-6299 unless you need help registering, as in you don’t have a computer and need help to get registered.”

Frontline health care workers, residents at long-term care facilities, individuals over 65, and people with one or more chronic medical conditions are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Nearly 2.5 million vaccine doses have been shipped to Texas health care centers, and 1.2 million Texans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to DSHS. 

As of Wednesday, TCPH has administered 47,754 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Tarrant County has 1,927 confirmed deaths from the virus, and 143,731 people have recovered, according to the county. Texas had reported a total of 32,844 confirmed deaths due to the virus, while the national COVID-19 death toll has topped 400,000.

COVID-19 inoculations have reached only 3% of the U.S. population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). President Joe Biden has pledged that 100 million Americans will be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus within the first 100 days of his administration. Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan includes hundreds of billions of dollars for expanding the vaccination effort.