In the first weekend of vaccines for health workers and the first respondents in Tarrant County, the goal was to give 1,000 photos a day. But only about 700 people showed up a day.
The target may have been optimistic, the launch is just beginning, and the holiday weekend may be partly to blame, but lower-than-expected turnout underscores what some may be reluctant to receive a voluntary vaccine, experts say necessary to end the pandemic.
At a makeshift vaccine clinic set up in a South Fort Worth county building on Monday, Cmdr. Bryan Sudan, from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, was among those who rolled up their sleeves.
“It’s a very easy decision,” he said. “Everyone has been touched by this, and if you don’t, you’ll be.”
Sudan said its own brother was in hospital right now with COVID and three of his colleagues in the sheriff’s office had died of the virus.
But for some, getting hit is not such an easy decision.
Even in the medical field, some workers simply do not want it.
A survey conducted about a month ago among ambulance workers found that about 60-65% said they would get the vaccine, said Matt Zavadsky of Medstar.
Some are worried that it was approved too quickly and may be dangerous or simply ineffective, Zavadsky said.
“The good news is that as vaccine education has improved, more of our people have indicated that they will be vaccinated,” he said. “It will never be 100%.”
Stephen Love, director of the North Texas Hospital Council, said he believes, based on his discussions with hospital directors, that about 70 percent of health care workers intend to receive the vaccine.
However, he said that the percentage is much higher for doctors.
“99% of doctors want the vaccine,” Love said. “So when you look at doctors, trained scientists who accept medical evidence all get the vaccine. You’ll always have people who are reluctant.”
Meanwhile, patients with COVID continue to travel to hospitals in North Texas at an alarming rate and more so in Tarrant County than anywhere else in the region.
Fort Worth’s first responders now handle an average of 117 COVID-19 calls each day.
Only those patients who are the most seriously ill are taken to the hospital.
“Things are getting very tight,” Love said. “We’re very worried.”
And the models predict that things will get worse.
“And I haven’t even seen the peak of Christmas yet,” Zavadsky added. “So we’re really worried about next week or two for sure.”
Back at the vaccination clinic, there was hope that if there were enough people receiving the vaccine, the solution was in sight.
“You have to trust science and trust the science involved,” Sudan said.
* Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not intended to indicate where infected people actually live.
** County totals below include all 32 North Texas counties, not just Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant.
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