Texas says prioritizing areas of Dallas most vulnerable to COVID-19 for vaccination does not comply with state guidelines

Dallas County Commissioners agreed on Tuesday to prioritize vaccinating residents in zip codes that appear to be most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. But leaders abandoned the plan a day later, after the state threatened to cut the city’s vaccine supply and said the plan was “not in line with previously agreed guidelines.”

The plan described would have prioritized certain zip codes for vaccine distribution to the county’s Fair Park distribution center. The county would still have followed the state-established tier system that determined which groups were eligible for the vaccine – but within those groups, residents of those zip codes would have priority.

At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners said prioritization would involve “exhausting” all efforts to help people in vulnerable areas get immunization appointments every day open in the appointment system. county line. Once they had made a “good faith effort” to do so, people from other areas could make appointments.

“You will always have a little [of appointments] for the rest of Dallas County, “said Commissioner JJ Koch.” We are not excluding them. ”

A backgrounder said the plan would require that “vaccine distribution in Dallas County must begin with priority postal codes and move to the rest of the county when supply permits,” adding: “When you move to next level, distribution should only start with priority postal codes and do not include the entire county, unless the supply is broad. ”

The county said it had prioritized postal codes listed by research firm PCCI as having high scores on its “vulnerability index.” According to PCCI, the index assesses factors such as the prevalence of comorbidities, social distancing ability and socioeconomic status. The majority of the zip codes they had planned to prioritize, according to the Dallas Interactive Database, are among the highest numbers of new cases in the past two weeks in the county.

Since the postal codes selected for prioritization are based on this system, the commissioners in support of the move agreed that the priority areas could change if the data was moved.

These zip codes are mostly made up of black and Latino individuals, who the CDC says are more likely to contract, be hospitalized and die from the disease.

Of the 79,010 residents of ZIP code 75211, for example, 71,800 are black, Hispanic or Latin American, according to the database, and more than 6,300 people are 65 years of age or older.

According to a briefing from the court of commissioners, the Texas Department of Health Services wrote to the commission on Wednesday that the order “does not conform to previously agreed guidelines.”

CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported that in the letter, the state warned that the plan was at odds with the stated goals of the DSHS and the State of Texas for the vaccine to be distributed as widely and fairly as possible in communities. across the state.

Dr Philip Huang, Dallas County director of health and human services, told an emergency committee meeting on Wednesday that if the county fails to reverse the plan at 8 a.m. on Thursday, the state said it would no longer receive the scheduled vaccines.

“They’ve stopped us for 9,000 doses for next week, and if they don’t hear that we’ve fixed the problem, then they will definitely reduce, or I guess, cancel our dose,” he said. declared.

Commissioners voted on Wednesday to cancel the plan.

“We just have to do what they ask us to do,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. “Cancel the order. We can bring it back another day.”

But Commissioner JJ Koch slammed Jenkins at the meeting, saying he had been “dishonest” to the state in telling it about Dallas’ vaccination plan. Jenkins had sent a letter to the state about the commission’s vaccine prioritization plans, CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

“You made it clear to the state that we are completely excluding people who are not in those zip codes. That is not the case,” Koch said, saying other people should have and could have obtained vaccines.

Last week, the county only allowed residents 75 and older to make immunization appointments, according to CBS affiliate KYTX. Koch spoke out against the choice at Tuesday’s meeting, arguing that the county’s current priorities exclude minority residents.

“Those who are over 75, those who have come this far in life, are richer and whiter. They tend to be those who live in single-family homes, have enough wealth and ability to maintain themselves properly. separated from others. so as not to catch disease, “Koch said.” We are missing in this 65-75 [age range], [where] there are a huge number of those who are Latino, African American, still in the workforce, in multigenerational family housing … and not in a position where they can sequester themselves from a lot of other people. “

“We prioritized people because of a number without really looking at who these people are in our geography,” he said.

Chris Van Deusen, director of media relations for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told CBS News that providers of vaccination centers are required to “ensure that they are vaccinating people in the areas and populations the most. hardest hit, but they can’t do it to the exclusion of literally everyone. ”

“In return for receiving an increased and consistent amount of vaccine, all center providers have agreed to immunize people regardless of where they live, including surrounding counties. The purpose of being a hub is to deliver vaccines to large communities, ”Van Deusen told me. “[Dallas County Commissioners Court] may use some of their vaccines to target specific groups or areas, but they cannot do it all and remain a hub supplier. ”