Mobile County officials are preparing the Alabama Cruise Terminal ahead of the first major effort to distribute the COVID-19 vaccination off the Alabama coast on Saturday.
The large-scale vaccination efforts in Mobile County are taking place at the same time that Alabama officials counter bad public relations about the state’s abysmal vaccine distribution rate. According to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the state ranks last in the percentage of residents who received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The worst states for vaccine distribution are in the Deep South, with Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia not far behind Alabama.
The poor results prompted Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Friday afternoon to issue a statement encouraging people to be patient, to wear facial cover and to stand six feet from each other.
Ivey’s comments also arrive when about half of the states in the U.S. begin to increase the number of people who are receiving the vaccine for ages 65 and older.
“I am grateful that so many Alabamians are willing and ready to receive their COVID-19 vaccines,” she said. “(State Health Officer) Dr. (Scott) Harris and his team are continually working to put this vaccine in the arms of Alabamians more efficiently. Our current supply remains limited, but we are committed to vaccinating as many Alabamians as possible ”.
Other statistics show that some group of Alabamians plans to forgo the vaccine. Only 50% of school staff in Tallapoosa and Marion counties, which are already being vaccinated after nearby hospitals offered unused doses of the vaccine, are opting for it.
Mobile County earlier this week hosted a vaccination clinic for religious leaders in the area in an effort to convince the minority community to feel more comfortable with the vaccine.
Mark Bryant, a spokesman for the Mobile County Health Department, said a survey of residents showed that 65% of the black community said they did not plan to get the vaccine.
The health agency, during a Facebook update on Friday, provided details about the clinic before it opened at 8 am on Saturday.
Dr. Rendi Murphree, director of the Mobile County Health Department’s Office of Disease Surveillance and Environmental Studies, said people arriving at the center terminal for a COVID-19 vaccine should be prepared to wait. She encouraged participants to bring water and snacks and “please be kind to our team and everyone else in the same boat as you.”
The county is administering 1,000 Modern vaccines to people aged 75 and over and to police and fire departments. The first doses will be administered from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm for anyone aged 75 and over, on a first-come, first-served basis. From 1:30 pm to 8:00 pm, vaccinations will be open to police and firefighters who bring their identity card.
The agency has been criticized in recent days for administering vaccines to people who are not entitled to doses. Health officials in recent days have admitted that they have inadvertently distributed vaccines to people who were not eligible to receive them during a “soft opening” event at the cruise terminal.
Murphree said the department “learned some lessons” during clinics by appointment only that occurred during the soft-opening events. She said that everyone who gets vaccinated at the cruise terminal on Saturday will be sent home with a vaccination card that includes the date of the vaccination and a date that is the first time someone can return for the second dose.
There is no residence requirement to receive the vaccine on Saturday, although Murphree said the department “prefers that they are residents of Mobile County.” A similar vaccination clinic will take place from 9 am to 3 pm on January 19, 21, 26 and 28 at the Centro Civico Daphne.
The clinic is not a drive-thru event. She said that participants will enter the cruise terminal on Slavic Street and be guided to the right place to park.
“Have your identification on hand in the car and someone will check with you when you get in,” said Murphree. “You can expect that there will be delays.”