People over the age of 75 can show up at the Fair Park vaccine hub and get the COVID-19 vaccine without an appointment on Friday.
The county made vaccines available without an appointment on Thursday and then late Thursday afternoon. Friday morning Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted it was extended and open to Group 1A provided they were accompanied by someone who was age 75 and up.
Group 1A includes paid and unpaid hospital workers, long-term care staff working directly with vulnerable residents, EMS providers who engage in 9-1-1 emergency services, home health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities as well as staff at outpatient care facilities, freestanding ERs, urgent care clinics, school nurses, pharmacy staffers, staff administering COVID-19 vaccines, last responders like funeral home workers and medical examiners office workers.
Fair Park is located at 3809 Grand Avenue in Dallas. People should enter through Gates 5 and 6. There are go-carts available to take people to the main area to get vaccinated.
If people over the age of 75 miss the walk up on Thursday or Friday, they can register as normal. Walk-ups will not be allowed after Friday. For those who do not have internet access, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 469-749-9900 to schedule an appointment.
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.
Temporarily allowing walk-ups is the result of some stumbles this week at the hub that started with people showing for vaccines after piggybacking on other people's appointments. Jenkins said they started allowing walk-ups for those 75 and older after people who received appointment confirmation emails from the county were then forwarding those emails to friends and family or copying the live appointment link in neighborhood newsletters or on social media.
Then there were questions about equitable access to vaccines when most of the people who had appointments were from more affluent ZIP codes instead of coming from the neighborhood around Fair Park.
Some Dallas city leaders let their constituents know about 75 and up walk-ups on Wednesday. That led to some behind-the-scenes heat between the mayor of Dallas and Jenkins.
In a letter to the mayor, Jenkins said in part, "Your and other’s decision earlier today to broadcast that vaccines are available to anyone over 75 without an appointment has undermined that effort and made it less likely the vaccine will get to the people at the highest risk in the hardest hit, most underserved ZIP codes this week."
