Acting Army Secretary tours Fair Park COVID-19 vaccination site and meets with county leaders
DALLAS - The acting Army secretary was in Dallas Friday touring the Fair Park vaccination site.
It's being staffed by National Guard troops who've been putting shots in arms for about three weeks now, about 21,000 a week.
But the county and city of Dallas said they're not getting the doses they need.
The FEMA site is giving out all three vaccines, including the new, one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.
The acting Army secretary said that adds another logistical challenge, though he said the National Guard troops are here for the long haul.
"Thank you for what you're doing. I really appreciate it," acting Army Secretary John Whitley said to those administering the vaccine.
Whitley was in Dallas Friday to tour the community vaccination center at Fair Park.
He discussed the partnership with Dallas County leadership, FEMA, and the Department of Defense.
"We look forward to seeing this through and be part of this national effort to get this pandemic behind us," Whitley said.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told Whitley the county needs more shots.
"These guys can do 6,000 shots a day. They're doing as many shots as we have the shots," Jenkins said.
Jenkins has repeatedly criticized Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for diverting vaccine to other Texas counties since the FEMA mega site opened.
Tarrant County has experienced the same issue.
The state health department has said it is not shorting either county, because the FEMA supply balances their proportion.
"We need the state to stop diverting shots and pay us back," Jenkins said.
Next week, Texas will get 800,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
RELATED: Texas to receive 800,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses next week, which is a drop from this week
That's the third largest allotment to date, but less than the 1 million doses the state got this week.
A DSHS spokesman said they're talking to the CDC about tweaking the formula.
"We're also near the bottom of the vaccine doses that we've gotten per capita," Chris Van Deusen explained. "That's something that we continue to talk to the CDC about, try to understand exactly why that's happening."
Van Deusen said the new, one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will allow more Texans to get vaccinated quicker.
"That's why we definitely want to get more of that, and we will, as production continues to ramp back up," he said.
Municipalities are working to get as many Texans signed up as possible.
On Saturday, an in-person registration event will take place at Kennedy Curry Middle School in Dallas.
Collin County announced it is re-opening appointment registration portal, expecting to have everyone currently on the wait list vaccinated by this weekend.
RELATED: Collin County re-opens COVID-19 vaccine registration
That means more options for the growing number of Texans eligible for the vaccine.
President Joe Biden has promised all American who want a vaccine will be able to get one come May 1.
"We are all in we're all in on the president's agenda," Whitley said. "Rest assured that when the vaccine is available, when your time is up, when it’s your slot, we're going to be here."