Alabama vaccine launch entering the complicated phase of second doses and expanded eligibility
The Alabama coronavirus vaccination process is set to enter a complicated new phase in the coming days, as hundreds of thousands of people who received their first dose return to obtain the second, and another 750,000 citizens become eligible to receive the first .
On Monday, February 8, the state’s eligibility expansion begins for all citizens aged 65 and over and many categories of frontline workers. Also in the coming week, the number of people seeking the second dose of the vaccine is expected to increase.
“We spent a month giving people their first injections. … It’s time for exactly those same people to come back and have their second injections, ”said state health officer, Dr. Scott Harris, in an interview on Friday.
Of the two vaccines approved for use, Pfizer requires two vaccines three weeks apart and Moderna requires two vaccines administered four weeks apart.
Alabama is completing its eighth week of vaccine delivery, but the program has increased markedly in scale in mid-January, meaning that the next few weeks will be the first in which the distribution of second doses is a project on the same scale as the first doses .
Notably, vaccine suppliers often take a day or two to report how many doses they have administered, so the number of vaccines administered in the current week is likely to increase to approximately the same level as the previous two weeks over the weekend, when all vaccines are reported.
As of Friday afternoon, the state had received 923,750 vaccines and administered 436,962 of them, representing 52.21%.
Alabama is expected to receive 74,325 first doses of the vaccine product next week and 60,450 second doses, according to an announcement by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
ADPH is taking 40,000 first doses and designating them to be administered at eight drive-in clinics that will be located in Anniston, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Selma and Tuscaloosa. The department plans to have drive-in locations in those cities distribute 1,000 doses on each business day for the next week.
More details about mass clinics are available here. Some will require consultations and others will not.
The relatively low supply of doses means that getting an appointment remains a challenge for those who are eligible.
ADPH continues to provide an online portal that Alabamians can use to check their eligibility and try to schedule a vaccination appointment.
“Generally speaking, I would say that our county health departments are scheduled until mid-April,” warned Harris on Friday. “They are mainly focusing on the second shots right now.”
A map of all locations certified to provide vaccines, including several that are not accessible through the online portal, can be found here on the “All Alabama Vaccine Providers” tab at the bottom of the page.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @ HenryThornton95.