Dallas City Council members say people are confused about the launch of the COVID-19 vaccines

Updated at 6:20 pm to include more details about the meeting.

Dallas officials say residents remain confused by the COVID-19 vaccination process.

Residents are not alone. Some members of the City Council said on Monday that they were dealing with their own frustrations with public and internal communication about the launch.

Several council members said that problems with Dallas County’s communication about how and when people can be vaccinated at the Fair Park megasite, as well as the mayor’s tendency to reveal updates via a press release, were causing people’s information lapses. and helping residents not to be helped. ASAP.

“The confusion is going to get worse and there may be some anger,” said board member David Blewett. “Frankly, I don’t think we’re all on the same page, and it’s pretty obvious that we’re not.

“I just don’t think we’re doing a very good job.”

The city and county are trying to ensure that the most vulnerable residents can register and receive COVID-19 vaccines, but the demand for vaccines is much greater than the supply. Preliminary data also shows that disparities exist.

The mass vaccination site was established to address the shortage of authorized vaccine suppliers in South Dallas, where residents were heavily affected by the virus.

As of Monday, more than 380,000 people had registered in Dallas County to receive the vaccine in Fair Park, and more than 18,800 doses have been administered since the site opened on January 11.

The city will receive its own direct allocation of 5,000 doses from the state and plans to start delivering vaccines on Thursday.

Rocky Vaz, Dallas’ director of emergency management, said the city plans to vaccinate frontline health workers, people 65 and older and those who have a chronic medical condition. A drive-through will be mounted in a parking lot at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, in the city center. He promised clear communication about how people are selected to receive doses, when they need to enter and when they need to return for the second injection.

Vaz also said there would be a “frequently asked questions” section on the city website and a team member dedicated to informing board members. At this point, he said, the data show that the proximity of vaccination posts does not mean better access to vaccines.

“We can plan these locations anywhere we want, but the challenge is that we don’t have vaccines,” said Vaz. “Even if we create websites, [residents] they still have to follow the registration process and there is no guarantee that they will have any priority in getting vaccines at a given location. “

Access to vaccine

Chad board members West, Adam Bazaldua and Paula Blackmon said that they convened a special meeting on Monday night to discuss the vaccine distribution process, how council members communicate and that city manager TC Broadnax should be given more authority during a state of emergency. emergency.

At the meeting, which passed midnight, the council voted 10-5 to allow Broadnax to authorize the use of city officials, laptops, personal protective equipment and other city resources to help create places where people can apply. to get a vaccination appointment.

West, Bazaldua and Blackmon were among the six council members who asked Broadnax last week for city officials to help establish registration centers in their districts. Up to that point, they said, the online application process has favored people who have computers and reliable Internet access.

Johnson told Broadnax to ignore requests from board members, saying that board members should have come to him and that the data should determine where registration sites are placed.

Johnson later announced that the city would set up vaccination registration sites in “underserved areas of the city”. As of Tuesday, the public had not yet been informed where and when they would open.

Board members have created pop-up registration events or are working on it. West, working with county officials and community volunteers, organized three registration events in northern Oak Cliff last week, where more than 700 people signed up for vaccines, he said.

Bazaldua said during the Monday meeting that he was collecting 20 laptops from the county to hold registration events in his district. He accused Johnson of keeping the city’s laptops as “hostages”.

emergency state

In a 10-4 vote, the board rejected a proposal that would have called Johnson to provide public updates to the board every two weeks about the city’s emergency response. Bazaldua did not vote.

A separate proposal, to designate Broadnax as the emergency response coordinator for the city of Dallas during the pandemic, was withdrawn after some debate.

State law designates Johnson, in his role as mayor, as the one who oversees the Dallas government disaster response, giving you emergency powers, how to develop and organize plans to use city facilities, staff, equipment and other resources.

The mayor is authorized to select another officer to coordinate the response. The coordinator’s duties include recommending areas to be evacuated and instituting curfews. Johnson chose Vaz for the role. Vaz, like the rest of the city officials, usually reports to Broadnax. But on issues related to the city’s COVID-19 response to the state of emergency, Vaz reports directly to the mayor.

Council member Carolyn King Arnold said Broadnax was easier to work than Johnson and more accountable to the City Council because he hired him. She said Johnson does not normally communicate with board members outside e-mails, public meetings and press conferences. She indicated that she and the mayor had not spoken to each other in a year.

“We just need to stop playing and face the fact that what we have here is this constant battle and the fights and the refusal of the mayor’s office to work with the mayor,” she said.

Johnson did not comment on his statement and gave no indication during the meeting that he would change the way he communicates with board members. Public conflicts between the mayor and several council members have occurred intermittently over the past year, including during the budget debate.

On Monday, the mayor repeatedly said that he considered the meeting unnecessary. He also said that while he understood why some argued that Broadnax had more authority during disasters, if they wanted the state of emergency processes to change, they would need to “talk to the legislature about it”.

“The reality is that, in a disaster, the mayor – whoever he is – is the director of emergency management,” said Johnson, “and the coordinator of emergency management is who the mayor selects.”