Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says not enough people are registering for COVID-19 vaccine

As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines is expanding in Texas, Dallas County leaders said they'd like to see more people register to get a vaccine.

DALLAS - Next week, Texas will receive more than 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, and Dallas County will get more than 100,000 first doses.

But officials said not enough people are registering for the shot.

The state said 30% of Dallas County residents have had their first shot, leaving more than 1 million others needing a shot, and county leaders said not enough people are signing up to receive the vaccine.

Saturday was another busy day at the COVID-19 vaccination site at Fair Park in Dallas.

"We are ready to start seeing more of the family because it has just been the household," said Glenda Spears, who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Some received either their second dose of Pfizer, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

"We are going to do 11,000 shots [Saturday], we are going to have a busy week all week, we just need more people to register," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said.

Now that every adult is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, the county has gotten through a waitlist that was more than 1 million people just a few weeks ago.

"We are running out of people signing up on the list, if you sign up today, we will get you an appointment this week," Jenkins said.

The waitlist is so low, Glenda and Sue Spears registered Saturday and had an appointment the same day.

"We looked all over, there wasn't any available, so we said we are going to bite the bullet and come," Sue said.

While more people are getting vaccinated, this week came with a big problem.

An 8-year-old was given a COVID-19 vaccine shot, something Jenkins called disappointing.

"It’s upsetting, human error," he said. "It’s been fixed, it should not happen again. If you somehow get an appointment from anyone in the state for a child under 16, we are not doing kids under 16 yet."

The child was registered, and despite a vetting process when you get your shot, the child was still given the vaccine.

No vaccine has been approved by the FDA for children under the age of 16, and 16 and 17 year olds can only get the Pfizer vaccine.

"I'm hopeful, by the summer, we will be doing kids 12 and up, and by the fall, the rest of them, but for now, the research isn't in yet," Jenkins said.

County health officials said the state data of 32% with a first dose is a delayed statistic, but said it shows that there is still a lot of people who need to register and get vaccinated.

"Less than a third of our people have gotten one shot, that means two thirds of Dallas County needs to come down here and get their first shot," Jenkins said. "If you are 65 or older, you don't need to register anymore, we will move you to the front of the line and we will get you that shot."

There are 18% of Dallas and Tarrant county residents who are fully vaccinated.