While some counties in Alabama have already started offering the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone over 75, it will probably be weeks before it happens across the state, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Dr. Karen Landers of ADPH said on Thursday that the state is currently making a “smooth transition” from Phase 1a of the state’s vaccine allocation plan to Phase 1b, but that it may still be weeks before the state as a whole is ready to take that step.
Phase 1a focuses on the application of the vaccine to frontline health professionals, residents and asylum teams. Phase 1b includes people over 75, police, firefighters, teachers and other education workers. Landers said that these Phase 1b groups include more than 300,000 Alabamians and that the state simply does not have enough of the vaccine to make it happen.
“We certainly know that the supply will be less than the demand for the vaccine,” Landers said on Thursday in an interview with AL.com.
Landers said most of the state is working to distribute the vaccine to a larger number of health professionals before opening the suit to additional groups, although some have offered the vaccine to people over 75, or to police and firefighters. .
In Etowah County, a scheduled drive-thru vaccine clinic ran out of doses in less than three hours after creating a kilometer-long line in Gadsden. In Calhoun County, the health department offered the vaccine to people over 75 in Anniston starting on Tuesday, causing long lines as well. In Madison County, sheriff’s delegates began receiving the vaccine earlier this week.
“Each county or region can be at a different stage,” said Landers. “There are some municipalities that, due to the saturation of the vaccine uptake, have been able to start vaccinating some people over the age of 75 and also in our police and fire department.
“So I hope that we have a smooth transition for this group of people and will continue in the coming weeks to expand into that category.”
Landers said there may also be minor cases where the vaccine is offered to people further down the list, so that the state does not waste doses of the vaccine that have already been thawed for distribution.
“Our commitment is not to miss a dose of the vaccine in the state of Alabama,” said Landers. “We want to make sure that each dose is used appropriately for patients.”
But she said it may be spring before people beyond Phase 1b can start receiving the vaccine.
“I think right now, given the supply we have, we are really looking at spring before we really start to see a lot of expansion,” she said.
The full interview with Dr. Landers is included below: