All residents aged 16 and over will be eligible for vaccination appointments starting next week, Shelby County Health Department Deputy Director David Sweat told county commissioners on Monday afternoon, 22. March.
The city of Memphis, which controls the distribution of the vaccine throughout the county, tweeted on Monday night that it has 8,000 consultations available this week for those over 45 and will open vaccination registrations for those over 16 on Friday, March 26, for vacancies next week.
The news follows an announcement on Monday from Governor Bill Lee saying that all adults in Tennessee will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination until April 5.
Lee’s decision comes with the expectation of more vaccine coming, but the absorption of available doses is less than desired, especially in western Tennessee, which could create logistical challenges.
“The federal government asked us to ensure that all adults have access by May 1. Tennessee will meet that deadline, ”said Lee on Facebook on Monday.
Several counties will begin vaccinating all adults in the coming days, he said.
Sweat was speaking to the commission on Monday on behalf of the city of Memphis, which now controls the administration of vaccines across the county.
Madison County opened its consultations over the weekend to all adults.
The state is improving access as more vaccine becomes available and struggling with lower-than-expected percentages of people willing to take it.
Next week, for example, the delivery of the first doses will increase by 30% as more of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is shipped, bringing the total weekly doses in Tennessee to more than 350,000, said Dr. Lisa Piercey, State Commissioner Department of Health.
Without increasing demand, state officials fear that doses may remain on the shelf.
“We anticipate some degree of this. But, frankly, we did not anticipate such low absorption in some of our areas, ”said Piercey.
“Although we are having lower levels of absorption, this means that we have an excess supply. And you’ve heard me say for months, the last thing I want is any vaccine standing on a shelf somewhere, ”said Piercey.
The situation is worse in western Tennessee, where, in some cases, only 20% of the available hours are being filled. In the upper regions of Middle Tennessee, more than 80% of nominations are being filled.
“It is a challenge to try to find the right balance between supply and demand. That’s why we feel it’s really important for counties to be able to move at their own pace, including opening up to all adults, ”she said.
People aged 55 and over who were allowed to schedule filming for the first time on Thursday, March 18.
On the same day, the state also opened vaccines for people in certain essential industries, which include child and adult protection services, commercial agriculture, commercial food processing, prison staff, transportation, postal workers and public infrastructure, including people who collect and process solid waste, utilities and energy.
To accommodate the categories of people scheduled for vaccination this spring, including about 200,000 grocery workers and college students, Piercey said the state will provide extra vaccine.
“They will still have priority; they just won’t have a specific deadline, ”she said.
Tennessee is suffering nationally from the pace of its vaccination efforts. On Monday, Tennessee ranked 47th in the country in number of people vaccinated per 100,000. Only Alabama and Georgia are lower.
Piercey has spoken frequently in recent weeks about equity and speed compensation, saying Tennessee focuses on equity, including access for the elderly and the poor.
On Monday, she said she “did not apologize” for Tennessee to slow things down initially for older and vulnerable populations.
When the state began to move more quickly in early mid-February, it was hit, along with many other southern states, by a week of snowstorms.
“If you look back at the rankings, what you saw in mid-February is that all of these states, especially the southern states affected by the snowstorm, really made it to the bottom of the list,” she said.
These states, she said, have remained low because they share significant populations of African Americans, low-income workers and rural conservatives, all of whom are more hesitant to be vaccinated.
Directors of state health departments across the South are thinking of ways to change the trajectory, she said.
“As long as absorption is low, our ratings will be very low because we have not made this vaccine mandatory,” said Piercey.
The state has more than 500,000 consultations available every week. For people who live in urban areas where consultations are still happening quickly, they can travel to a nearby county.
To see nominations across the state, visit vaccinefinder.org. The federally run website allows people to choose their vaccine by brand and the distance they want to travel to get it.
Locally, appointments can be scheduled online or by calling 901-222-7468 (SHOT).