UT Southwestern Medical Center has opened a new community COVID-19 vaccination site on The University of Texas at Dallas campus. The site will provide vaccinations for both UTSW patients and community members who meet current eligibility criteria set by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“We are grateful to UT Dallas leaders who have generously opened their campus for the benefit of those who still need to be vaccinated,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern and holder of the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science. “This spirit of collaboration with a sister UT institution is a win for all North Texans.”
UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson, the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership, said: “We are so fortunate to be partnered with UT Southwestern. At this point in the pandemic, offering our campus as a vaccination site is clearly one of the most important things we can do for the community right now. Vaccinations provide the best route to normality in Richardson, Dallas-Fort Worth and the entire country.”
More information for the UTD community is available on our Comets United website.
While UT Dallas community members will not have vaccine prioritization beyond current state guidelines, students, staff and faculty will be volunteering at the clinic.
“There will be hundreds of UT Dallas volunteers, as we expect to support this clinic for many weeks,” said Colleen Dutton, chief human resources officer. “This is a wonderful opportunity for faculty, staff and students to highlight our campus and serve our surrounding community.”
UTSW personnel will check people into the clinic and monitor them after they receive their vaccinations. UT Dallas will provide security and safety support, parking and traffic coordination, and hosts who will guide people to the correct stations.
The UT Dallas site will be set up at the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center in the center of campus and will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. UT Southwestern will initially provide 500 vaccinations a day and is positioned to increase that number based on demand.
Those who qualify for vaccination based on state and federal guidelines – including those who are not currently UTSW patients – are invited to visit the medical center’s COVID-19 Vaccine Registration portal and fill out a short questionnaire to begin the process of booking an appointment. Registration typically opens every Monday and Thursday morning. No walk-up vaccinations will be given. More detailed information, including answers to FAQs are available on UTSW’s vaccination website.
Dr. Rafael Martín, UT Dallas vice president and chief of staff, has been facilitating talks with UT Southwestern leaders for a number of months about a possible vaccination site at UT Dallas.
“There are currently no community vaccination sites between the President George Bush Turnpike and Downtown Dallas. UT Dallas seemed like a natural location for UT Southwestern to expand its vaccination efforts,” he said.
Martín said it is likely that the UT Dallas vaccination site will remain open as long as necessary to meet community vaccination needs.
Comets’ Emergency Medic Team Chips In at Inoculation Site
University of Texas at Dallas students who are members of the University Emergency Medical Response (UEMR) team are among those administering shots at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic on the UT Dallas campus.
Approximately 60 students who are emergency medical technicians or paramedics are working five-hour shifts, providing vaccinations alongside health care workers from UT Southwestern. In addition, UEMR members are staffing a medical standby station at the location.
The UEMR team previously assisted Collin County Health Care Services with administering approximately 1,500 COVID-19 vaccinations in McKinney, Texas, over three days. In addition, the student group has helped with proactive COVID-19 testing on the UT Dallas campus.
Organized in fall 2017 to respond to emergency medical needs on campus, the UEMR team has grown to 62 student, faculty and staff volunteers who provide 24/7 service on campus. It is currently the only such program in the UT System.