Thursday’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Texas Motor Speedway cancelled due to icy forecast

Icy forecast affects COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans

Vaccination centers throughout North Texas are monitoring the winter weather, with some waiting to see what happens while others are making changes to their schedule.

Thursday’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution at Texas Motor Speedway has been cancelled ahead of predicted winter weather across North Texas.

Vaccination centers throughout the region are monitoring the weather, with some waiting to see what happens while others are also making changes to their schedule.

"We are concerned about later in the week if we get the precipitation they’re talking about," said TMS President Eddie Gossage.

The vaccine drive-through at TMS moved smoothly once again on Tuesday, just with more coats, gloves and hats for the staff. But it is adjusting shot schedules for later in the week.

Denton County’s 16-lane set-up at TMS anticipates getting into arms 22,000 doses this week, with appointments for Thursday being rescheduled to Friday.

Gossage notes that those changes and any others will be announced via email to those with appointments.

"Pay close attention to your emails, look at them regularly because if something changes they’ll send out a blast to everybody’s email quickly," Gossage said.

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Thursday’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic at TMS cancelled due to icy forecast

The vaccine drive-through at TMS moved smoothly once again on Tuesday, just with more coats, gloves and hats for the staff. But it is adjusting shot schedules for later in the week.

In Collin County and Clark Stadium in Plano, safety weather related concerns are also a point of discussion.

County administrator Bill Bilyeu said vaccine contractor Curative will likely follow Plano ISD as to possible delayed start times or shortened hours and make notifications.

"Once the person enters their appointment into Curative it will be Curative messaging that deals with them," he said. "Collin County won’t be the one telling them your appointment is delayed ‘til Friday, it will all be within Curative’s system."

The city of Dallas is administering shots by appointment only at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and Wednesday’s operations are on schedule.

Propane heaters lined the walkways outside a vaccine site in Tarrant County on circle drive on Tuesday morning.

"That has always been a concern, especially for the people, when the people getting the vaccines are waiting outside," said Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley.

The predicted freeze that could extend into next week is a concern among Tarrant County Commissioners and the health department. For now, all appointment plans remain unaffected.

"The reason we’re keeping them open is there is a lot of interest and a lot of people are coming for their second doses, so if we close the sites they get backed up," said Public Health Director Vinny Taneja.

Taneja says there may be small adjustments, which is why he’s strongly urging people to keep close watch for notifications via email or text messages.

"We are also looking at the weather for the site volunteers. We might compress the hours a little bit. Not start bright and early and go to late in the evening, but maybe 10 to 4 or 10 to 5 timeframe," he said.

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