Dallas County residents can register for the COVID-19 vaccine with Dallas County Health and Human Services here, while Collin County residents can submit a COVID-19 vaccine request to Collin County Healthcare Services here. According to a city of Richardson spokesperson, the city is not involved in vaccine distribution at this time.
Only individuals in Phase 1A or Phase 1B are eligible for the vaccine at this time. These include health care workers, people age 65 or older, or residents at least 16 years old who have a chronic medical condition, including pregnancy.
The majority of COVID-19 vaccines available have been distributed to Dallas and Collin counties' hospitals, pharmacies and health care providers. Dallas County Health and Human Services received 1,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine and its supply is being prioritized to Phase 1A health care workers, according to the county website. Collin County Healthcare Services received 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
"We’re by far not the main source of vaccine, nor will we be," Collin County Public Information Officer Tim Wyatt said Jan. 4 via email. "The state’s plan is to spread the distribution around, not at a centralized point."
Collin County's website states all of its available vaccine doses had been administered or scheduled for people in the Phase 1A and 1B categories by Jan. 5.
When and how additional shipments of the vaccine will come to the counties is unknown, according to Wyatt. The Texas Department of State Health Services is working to distribute vaccines in a way that will make them more easily accessible in time, he said.
Residents who have not been vaccinated but meet the qualifications for the first phase of distribution are able to seek other providers, according to advice given by both Dallas and Collin counties.
Those other vaccine providers, largely made up of local health providers and pharmacies, can be located through an interactive map created by the state. However, not all of these locations are vaccinating the public or all of the groups identified in the first phase of vaccine rollout.
The distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Texas began in December with hospitals. Both the Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines have been approved for shipment across the state.
The state has created an online dashboard to help track vaccinations in Texas. As of Jan. 4, officials reported 944,275 doses have been shipped, and 414,211 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Additional information on rollout, including who qualifies for the vaccine at this time, can be found here.
Additional reporting by Liesbeth Powers.
