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Collin County to receive nearly 7,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses
The county announced Wednesday nearly 7,000 doses will be coming by next week. And it may be able to scale up to 6,000 per day by the end of the month.
Earlier this week, Collin County approved opening a vaccination hub. It just didn't have vaccines.
The county announced Wednesday nearly 7,000 doses will be coming by next week. And it may be able to scale up to 6,000 per day by the end of the month.
County Commissioner Darrell Hale says many firefighters with the McKinney, Allen and Frisco fire departments are among those that received the vaccine from that first shipment. But many more first responders still need their first dose.
"We still have some to go," Hale said. "I think you’ll find statewide that the 1As still have not been vaccinated completely in any particular county."
Collin County Health Care Services and the McKinney and Allen fire departments will each get 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine. Nearly 1,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be shipped to a local hospital not yet identified.
They will all be administered to more frontline workers, first responders and some in group 1B.
"Vaccinating the community, I think right now it’s an all hands on deck," said McKinney Fire Chief Daniel Kistner. "Right now, we’re just asking people who are in the 1A, 1B category fill that form out and we just go down the list."
Collin County commissioners hope the mega vaccination center they approved earlier this week will be up and running by Jan. 25.
Hale says the county is close to an agreement with a private company that has been helping establish vaccination sites across the country.
"They are already doing 2,000 vaccinations a day at a site out in California, and they see no problem in scaling it up to the 4,000 to 6,000 number that we talked about," Hale said.
Possible sites include Dr. Pepper Ballpark, McKinney I-S-D stadium, Toyota Stadium or even a large parking lot.
"And if we are able to establish multiple sites, that definitely can happen," Hale said. "But then it comes down to how much vaccine we’re able to get, and that’s up to the state and how much gets produced."
Looking ahead, Collin County has asked the state for an additional 56,000 doses for the next 2 weeks.
Collin County is now scheduling vaccinations for qualified people who have signed up.