Collin County Judge Chris Hill announced March 11 that the county has completed its COVID-19 vaccine waitlist and that it would be opening its vaccine appointment portal March 12 to eligible patients.
Any person eligible for a vaccine will be able to register with Curative Medical Associates beginning March 12 at 10 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. Those currently eligible to receive a vaccine include patients in Phases 1A and 1B, educators working with students from the pre-primary through secondary grade levels, and child care workers. Hill said beginning March 15, everyone age 50 and older will also be eligible to make an appointment, per guidance released by the Texas Department of State Health Services this week.
Curative Medical Associates operates Collin County's vaccination hub at John Clark Stadium in Plano.
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A month after suspending new registrations, Collin County expects to clear its COVID-19 vaccine waitlist this week.
Collin County commissioners decided Feb. 8 to pause new registrations due to an inability to keep up with demand for available doses. At the time, more than 275,000 names were on the list. County Administrator Bill Bilyeu said there were just over 10,000 names remaining as of March 8.
“We actually have a request in [for vaccines] that probably will extinguish that [list] in the next few days,” Bilyeu said during a March 8 Commissioners Court meeting.
Bilyeu said personnel have been “overburdened” with managing the waitlist because the county is essentially operating as a middleman between patients and those administering the vaccine. Commissioners gave Bilyeu the green light to determine a time when new appointments will become available on the county website. The county plans to allow those eligible to receive a vaccine under Phases 1A and 1B to begin making appointments with vendors March 12, though a specific time has not been determined.
Bilyeu said he expects vaccination hubs in McKinney and Frisco to also begin allowing eligible patients to begin scheduling appointments soon.
Collin County Judge Chris Hill called the impending end of the county waitlist a “huge accomplishment.”
“I know everyone who's been following this understands,” Hill said. “But for those that are just now starting to pay attention, [there were] 275,000 people on our waitlist, and by the end of this week, we should be done with that. That's truly remarkable.”
