The City of Dallas, moving to smooth its recent vaccine distribution woes, will administer 3,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at Methodist Dallas Medical Center this week.
The city receives 4,875 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week and plans to give 1,875 of them at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Wednesday and Thursday. The other 3,000 doses will be given at Methodist on Thursday and Friday.
Five thousand people were inoculated at the convention center and Fair Park last week, but not without some drama. Delay and confusion came because of loopholes in online enrollment that allowed hundreds more people to make appointments than were permitted.
The city says it will cancel “unauthorized appointments made through links shared by third parties.”
Methodist will contact people directly from the Dallas County waitlist to make appointments.
The city has been negotiating with the Oak Cliff hospital for several weeks, and a deal was struck Sunday night, according to a media release.
Mayor Eric Johnson says he is “grateful to Methodist Health System for stepping up to help during this critical time.”
They plan to evaluate the partnership week-by-week, depending on the city’s vaccine allotment.
“Methodist Health System is proud to partner with the City of Dallas to administer lifesaving COVID-19 vaccinations at Methodist Dallas Medical Center to our fellow citizens who need them the most,” said Jim Scoggin, CEO of Methodist Health System.
The partnership was announced Sunday night, at about the same time that District 1 City Councilman Chad West sent a media release calling on the city to partner with regional medical centers to distribute the doses. West has taken Mayor Eric Johnson to task recently regarding the city’s handling of vaccine distribution, even calling a tense “special called meeting” a week ago to address some of the problems and lack of communication between the Mayor and City Council members.
Here are West’s comments on the matter:
“I was dismayed to receive several calls and messages last night from neighbors who experienced 2, 3, 4 and even 6-hour waits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center yesterday for their COVID-19 vaccination appointments,” West said. “Others showed up and waited for their appointments and were turned away because the City ran out of vaccinations, only to receive a terse, non-apologetic text message stating that they will be ‘at the front of the line’ when more vaccinations come in. And most witnessed a lack of traffic control and communication.
“It is especially disappointing to hear about these problems given that several Council Members joined me in calling for a Special Called Meeting on Jan. 25 to specifically address the City’s vaccine preparedness – it turns out that the assurances from the Mayor, as Emergency Director and his designated coordinator about the City’s preparedness were overstated.
“I spoke with staff yesterday and asked them to consider alternative locations and partnerships with regional medical providers for future vaccination distribution in order to better serve our neighbors and save lives.”
