BELL COUNTY, Texas — Bell County Judge David Blackburn said the county's second dose vaccine center has gotten off to a smooth start. The event kicked off at 9 a.m. at the Bell County Expo Center Wednesday.
Blackburn said the initial time to get all the way though was between 45 minutes and an hour, though the process is only going to get faster.
"We had a line of traffic going out to the gate, and the day has moved on that line has gotten shorter and shorter," Blackburn said. "Every person I talked to was happy to see a second dose site open up, happy to get their second dose, and happy to be here."
Participants should expect to stop at four checkpoints during the visit. The registration point, a checkpoint for additional paperwork, the vaccination site, and the observation area were participants will need to wait 15 minutes after their shot. Participants will never need to leave their vehicles, unless staff is not physically able to reach them.
Blackburn said Bell County is now getting 3,900 doses of vaccine a week to provide the second shot to residents. These are in addition to the 3,900 doses designated for first shots that the county has received each week so far. Blackburn said the state has committed to matching all first doses provided.
"The state has said that no matter what we were allocated for our first doses, we will see the exact same number for our second doses," Blackburn said. "As long as we manage to operate 3,900 vaccines a week, or close to that, they'll continue to ship us 3,900 vaccines."
The second dose clinic had 6 staff members vaccinating individuals at once as of noon on Wednesday.
What you need to know
All second dose recipients must register for the shot before hand. Go to this website to sign up a time slot. Any persons who show up without an appointment will be turned away.
All Bell County second dose recipients must have also received their first dose from Bell County. You cannot get your first dose from one provider and the second dose from a different provider.
The process will go much faster if participants bring their COVID-19 vaccine card with them and fill out and print the paperwork they will need while registering online.
This week the second dose vaccine clinic will be available Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Next week, the second dose clinic will run from Monday to Thursday during the same hours.
Here is a map on how to access the vaccination site.
Blackburn also wanted to make clear to the public: While the Pfizer vaccine requires individuals to wait at least 21 days before getting their second dose, it doesn't require that exact waiting period to be effective. People who receive the second dose several days after that 21 day period will still be equally well protected.
Individuals are not fully protected from COVID-19 immediately after getting vaccinated. That process still takes a few weeks from the time the second vaccination took place.
