Dallas County Changes Fair Park Vaccination Schedule

Dallas County Reports 279 New COVID-19 Cases, 8 Deaths

DALLAS — As of 3:00 pm April 21, 2021 Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 279 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 138 confirmed cases and 141 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 255,782 confirmed cases (PCR test). There is a cumulative total of 40,824 probable cases (antigen test). A total of 3,828 Dallas County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19 illness.

Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) is providing initial vaccinations to those most at risk of exposure to COVID-19 and over 387,000 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which started operations on Monday, January 11. Vaccine operations for both first and second doses at Fair Park will continue through Friday.

The additional deaths being reported today include the following:

• A man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He was found deceased at home and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Wilmer. He was found deceased at home and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He was found deceased at home and had underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He expired in hospice and had underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80’s who was a resident of the City of Balch Springs. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

To date, a total of 57 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7; six cases of B.1.429 variants; and one case of a B.1.526 variant have been identified in residents of Dallas County. Four have been hospitalized with 2 requiring intensive care unit admission. Seven had history of recent domestic travel outside of Texas. One case of B.1.1.7 is a likely instance of reinfection with COVID-19, occurring over 6 months after an initial PCR-confirmed infection.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 14 was 250, which is a rate of 9.5 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. Of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals in week 14 (week ending 4/10/21), 9.0% of respiratory specimens tested positive SARS-CoV-2.

During the past 30 days, there were 1,083 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 359 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County. Of the cases reported over the past month, 116 have been associated with youth sports.

Fair Park Vaccination Site Schedule

“Today we report an additional 279 COVID-19 cases and eight additional deaths. We’re seeing a decrease in the number of people seeking new shots and are accordingly changing our days and hours of operations at Fair Park to account for that decrease. 

We’re open tomorrow 8:00am – 5:00pm for Pfizer first and second shots and open Friday 8:00am – 5:00 for Moderna first and second shots. However, there is an increasing risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday so we are encouraging everyone to come to Fair Park before noon to ensure that we can get your appointment in before potential bad weather forces suspension or early closure. 

We will be closed on Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25. We will be open on Monday, April 26 from 8:00am – 5:00pm for Moderna first and second shots. We’ll close on Tuesday, April 27. We’ll be open on Wednesday, April 28 from 8:00am – 5:00pm for Pfizer first and second shots. On Thursday, April 29, we will open from 12:00 to 9:00 p.m. for Pfizer first and second shots in an effort to provide another option to people who are unable to get their shots during normal business hours. Our full schedule can be found here.

No Eligible Person Being Turned Away In Dallas County

Please don’t delay in getting your vaccine. There’s more vaccine available now and no eligible person is being turned away at Dallas County locations. We are in a race against time and the virus to vaccinate enough people to reach herd immunity to deny the virus enough hosts to successfully mutate outside of the protections of the vaccine.

This is not only a battle for your health and our community’s health, but also for the economic vibrancy of our country. Getting the vaccine is the right thing to do for public health and the patriotic thing to do for America,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

All Dallas County COVID-19 Updates and Information can be found here: https://www.dallascounty.org/covid-19/ and all guidance documents can be found here: https://www.dallascounty.org/covid-19/guidance-health.php