Alabama health officials asked for patience on Wednesday amid the slow implementation of COVID-19 vaccines, saying the state plans to expand soon who is eligible to receive the vaccines.
The state is in the first phase of its vaccination plan, which prioritizes health professionals and residents in long-term institutions, about 377 thousand in all. The state has only received 226,000 vaccines so far, however.
The next group to receive the vaccines are people over 75 and those considered to be at early risk. No timetable has been set, given that the state does not yet have enough vaccines for the first group, but state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said the authorities hope to expand the distribution soon.
“The vaccine is coming,” said Harris. “Even though the number of shots is not as great as we would like, we believe that most of the reasons for this have been resolved and are behind us. We will start adding additional groups of people very soon and we will announce this very soon. “
Alabama, along with Mississippi, Georgia, Michigan, Kansas and Arizona, ranks last in the vaccination rate so far, according to figures compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the country, implementation has been slow, as states have been left to take care of their own distribution.
As of Sunday, Alabama had distributed about 42,000 of its 226,000 doses, or 821 doses, to 100,000 residents. Most states reached more than 1,000 per 100,000 residents, but few reached 2,000.
Some health professionals eligible for the vaccine did not get it. Jefferson County State Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson said the anecdotal evidence suggests that almost 100% of eligible doctors took the vaccine in the first round, but up to half of the other health professionals have not yet done so. choice or because of logistical issues.
Harris said one reason for the slow delivery of the vaccine is that the state has only 15 locations that can provide the extremely cold storage needed for the Pfizer vaccine.
Jefferson County has started a hotline to let people know who is eligible for the vaccine and to let them sign up for text alerts about increased availability, Wilson said.
“We need people to be patient,” he said. “It will take a while to resolve this. Some people will have a hard time understanding why it is not their turn, because many of them have a very good reason to get vaccinated, there is no doubt ”.
Harris said in December that the state hopes to reach the group of 75 or older this month and will not settle for vaccines. In the meantime, state health officials have warned people to continue with precautions to prevent coronavirus infection, as it will likely be spring or summer before the vaccine is available to those who are not at increased risk.
“We just hope that people understand that there simply won’t be enough to last several months,” said Harris.
At least one county, Calhoun County, has been authorized to start vaccinating people over 75 who live in that county. Harris said that each county that has a vaccine available has the flexibility to decide to expand its coverage if supplies allow.
The WBRC reported that about 900 people in the county were vaccinated on Tuesday. The Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency said it had to hang up on Wednesday morning because of the number of people waiting.
“I was just thanking God for being able to get it today and as soon as possible,” Joyce Nix told the television station.