Denton County setting up mega vaccination hub at Texas Motor Speedway
Starting next week, Texas Motor Speedway will serve as a mega COVID-19 vaccination hub.
Denton County leaders hope to vaccinate 10,000 people per day at TMS until doses run out, and they need volunteer help to pull it off. No medical experience is necessary for some positions.
TMS is being transformed into the latest mega vaccination hub. Denton County will use the site to administer 31,000 doses provided by the state next week.
Denton County Judge Andy Eads says the massive undertaking will require lots of additional staffing. City fire departments will be providing firefighter EMTs to help administer the shots. But he says there's still a need for dozens of volunteers.
"You do not have to a medical background. You can help be one our traffic control individuals or greeters," he said. "We need many hands to make the work light."
Folks can register on Denton County's website under the Medical Reserve Corp tab.
While there, Judge Eads says people can also get on the waiting list for an appointment. No walk-ins will be taken at the drive-thru site.
Volunteers are in growing demand as cities and counties ramp up dosing at hub locations.
This week, the city of Dallas opened its own vaccination site at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. It takes some 80 people — many of them volunteers — to staff the site.
"As you can imagine with approximately 200 people showing up per hour, it takes a lot," said Dallas Fire Rescue Chief Randall Stidham.
Judge Eads says it will take everyone coming together to get through this pandemic.
"Everyone is chipping in to provide the human resources necessary," he said. "We've got the vaccines in route now/ We're going to increase the staffing to make it happen."