50 Time March 15/March 22, 2021
calculates the proximity and volume of
COVID-19 cases in the area, the average
number of people sharing homes or liv-
ing in high-density settings, the share
of residents who must depend on pub-
lic transportation and several other fac-
tors, including the area’s rate of chronic
disease, number of senior citizens, ac-
cess to food and opportunities for social
distancing. Most people in areas hard
hit by COVID-19, such as South Dallas,
will rank high on the vulnerability index.
Most in North Dallas will not. The index
was supposed to help ensure equity in
vaccine appointments.
So when mass vaccinations began
Jan. 11 at the county’s vaccination center
in South Dallas, a 227-acre site called Fair
Park that in normal times is home to the
State Fair of Texas, the Cotton Bowl and
several museums, it was clear something
was amiss. One person watching things
that day was John Wiley Price, the only
Black member of the Dallas County Com-
missioners Court and a Democrat who
represents most of South Dallas. Like a
lot of counties that are home to major
American cities, including Los Angeles
and Philadelphia, people of color com-
prise a majority here. The population
is about 41% Latino, 24% Black, nearly
7% Asian and about 1% Native American.
That made what Price saw confounding.
“I said to myself, Where did all these
white people come from?!” Price says.
Almost all in line and on golf carts ferry-
ing people with mobility challenges from
the parking areas appeared to be white.
Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins, a
white Democrat, noticed it too. He was
there trying to ensure that things went
smoothly, trying to spot problems.
Jenkins was so perplexed that he as-
signed a staff member to find out how so
many white people—the least likely de-
mographic to die of COVID-19—got vac-
cines that first day. By close of business,
Jenkins’ staff had figured it out.
A white Dallas city-council member
in an affluent North Dallas district had
shared, in a digital newsletter, a link sent
by the county to someone registered to
get a vaccine. The link served as confirma-
tion of the registration and provided next
steps for making an actual appointment.
Two more council people representing
similar districts also shared the link.
Then, someone posted a link on Next-
Health
visiTors To The T.r. hoover
cenTer on feb. 24 geT help
regisTering for vaccinesdoor.com. Soon, thousands of people
had used shared links to make appoint-
ments, whether they were eligible or not.
Local officials intended to limit the
first appointments to those 75 and older,
but Jenkins and Price saw that many peo-
ple at Fair Park were far younger, and
most were white.
Jenkins approached some and asked
where they worked, thinking they might
be first responders willing to stay a few
hours and help manage the crowd. “Some
looked at me with blank stares,” he says.
“Some told me that they were FBI agents
but forgot to bring their badges.” When
Jenkins asked which ZIP codes they
lived in, “They were the most affluent
ZIP codes in Dallas, where our police of-
ficers generally don’t live.”Three of The five commissioners
on the county’s commissioners court
insisted on a major correction at their
next meeting on Jan. 19. Price and county
commissioner J.J. Koch, who is white
and the only Republican commissioner,
crafted a plan to ensure “the vaccine can
reach the most vulnerable populations.”In short, it said that of those eligible
for the vaccine, people living in 11 ZIP
codes deemed the county’s most medi-
cally vulnerable would get top priority.
A 65-year-old with health issues in one
of these ZIP codes, for example, might
be vaccinated before a 75-year-old from
a low-risk neighborhood.
Opponents warned that the situa-
tion was fluid; some ZIP codes might see
spikes in cases soon, but their residents
could be shut out of appointments. Jen-
kins, cognizant of his North Dallas con-
stituents, was one of them. “What that
means is that North Dallas won’t be get-
ting any vaccines to any appreciable de-
gree for many months,” he said, ques-
tioning the legality of the move. “You
are about to do something that you are
really going to regret.”
“Well, I will be the judge of that,”
Koch replied.