Alabama currently ranks last on the CDC panel, showing the percentage of the population in each state that received the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Thursday afternoon, Alabama reported the lowest COVID vaccination rate of any state, and the only state listed as having given the vaccine to less than 2 percent of its population.
According to the panel, Alabama administered at least the first dose of the vaccine to 92,300 people, about 1.9% of the population.
The Alabama Department of Public Health, which is administering the vaccine implantation in the state, says it does not agree with the data.
“The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) data is not in line with CDC data at the moment,” said Dr. Karen Landers of ADPH by email on Thursday. “ADPH is investigating this to ensure that all doses administered by Alabama are counted.”
The CDC panel currently shows Alabama with the lowest vaccination rate of any state, with many other southeastern states ranked near the end. Georgia is in second place, having vaccinated 2.2% of its population, followed by South Carolina with 2.3%. The panel reports how many people per 100,000 living in each state received at least one dose of the vaccine. Alabama’s figure was 1,882 people per 100,000, or 1.9% of the total population.
Many parts of Alabama are offering the vaccine only to people in Phase 1a of the state’s vaccine allocation plan, frontline healthcare professionals and people living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.
As of Monday, the state will offer vaccines to people aged 75 and over, as well as first responders across the state, but there are few places where people can get the vaccine. However, some states, including Texas and California, have already started offering vaccines to anyone over 65.
The CDC recommended this week that all states immediately open vaccines for people aged 65 and over. The decision rests with the states. However, the CDC also announced plans to reward states that distribute vaccines more quickly by sending them a larger share of the vaccine.
A statewide hotline to make appointments to receive a vaccine was flooded with 1.1 million calls on its first day of operations, and the department said the consultations were no longer available. Instead, the department is receiving information from callers to put them on a waiting list when more appointments are available.