Arlington Fire Department Prepared To Store Thousands Of Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Hospitals and medical facilities aren't the only places capable of storing and administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Arlington Fire Department has answered the call, too.
"We can put about 75,000 doses in there," said AFD Assistant Chief Gerald Randall, showing the department's new sub-zero freezer and medical-grade refrigerators.
"We are a registered vaccination site with the State of Texas, just like the hospitals are in the area," he said.
The department jumped on the opportunity to be a part of this phase of the pandemic response. Assistant Chief Randall doesn't know of any other first response agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth area becoming a vaccine provider.
"This is a little unusual within the fire service," Randall said. "The freezers we acquired for vaccine storage and to assist us in administering that vaccine – not only to our own workforce, first responders, but to the general public," said Randall.
The refrigerators will eventually be moved to another building, where firefighters can directly administer the vaccine to people.
The ultimate goal is to go mobile, bringing the vaccine to underserved communities.
"That's our target, to help fill in the gaps that traditional medical services don't get to," he said.
How many doses the department gets and when they'll be delivered is up to the state, but the department says it's well-prepared to help protect people from COVID-19 by administering the vaccine.
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