Garland to open drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine hub this week

GARLAND, Texas - A new vaccine center is opening this week in Garland with a backlog of people on the waiting list. But no one will have to stand in line.

The hub at the Homer Johnson Stadium in Garland will be a drive-thru site for people in the 1A and 1B priority groups. It opens Thursday.

REGISTER: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/66b0855646cb4a09bbfcec35783f872a

Since it’s one of the state’s vaccine hubs, anyone can register. But more than 17,000 people are already registered and doses are in short supply.

"We anticipate receiving 1,000 doses and as we shift more to the hub hopefully that will improve how much we get and how often," said Garland Mayor Scott LeMay.

Vaccinations for the public have been going on nearly a month and the number of providers in North Texas has doubled. Still, meeting demand has been difficult. Tarrant and Dallas counties have tens of thousands of people waiting to be vaccinated.

In Arlington, the fire department has given out more than 18,000 shots at its mega vaccine site. It ran out of doses Friday and is waiting on more to be delivered this week.

The medical community is also warning people to continue following safety guidelines after getting their shot. They’re seeing people who’ve been vaccinated test positive for COVID-19.

"It’s important for folks to know receiving a vaccine will not give a false-positive result. So if a person tests positive, that is the real deal," said Dr. Mark Casanova with Baylor Scott & White Health. "Immune response and protection begins after the first shot. It is by no means complete. In all likelihood, it is not complete for a number of weeks and up to a month after the second injection."

Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to give an update on the statewide vaccination efforts Tuesday in Houston. Harris County is again a hotspot with cases up 40% in the last two weeks.