The Shelby County Department of Health is vaccinating funeral and morgue staff, as well as people aged 75 and over, when available, officials said on Saturday, January 2.
In a statement released on Saturday, health department officials said that all appointments for Saturday and Sunday at the drive-thru vaccination sites have been completed and none are available.
“We will announce at the beginning of next week when and where drive-thru vaccination will resume for groups 1a1, funeral officials / mortuaries and the population of 75+,” the statement said.
WEEKEND VACCINATION UPDATE
The Shelby County Health Department is still vaccinating people in priority groups 1a1. When available, we also provide vaccinations for funeral / mortuary employees and people aged 75 and over, who fall into group 1a2.
All appointments for Saturday and Sunday at our drive-thru vaccination sites have been completed and none are available.
Next week, the Department of Health will begin offering vaccines in congregated settings, including long-term care facilities, whose staff and residents are in priority group 1a1.
We will announce early next week when and where drive-thru vaccination will resume for groups 1a1, funeral directors / mortuary staff and the population of 75+
– Shelby County Health Department, Saturday, January 2
Meanwhile, for the second time since the pandemic began, the health department reported more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day.
The Health Department reported an additional 1,020 cases of coronavirus and an additional 11 virus-related deaths on Saturday, January 2.
The 1,020 cases of coronavirus reported on Saturday came from 5,933 test results, generating a positivity rate of 17.2%. The test results, however, do not reflect the previous 24-hour period and include multi-day tests.
On December 17, the Ministry of Health notified 1,163 new cases of COVID-19, which remains the largest daily increase to date. Since March, the Department of Health has notified 68,820 cases of coronavirus in total and 914 deaths, classifying 61,027 cases as inactive / recovered.
Active cases in Shelby County reach 6,879, up from 6,472 reported on Friday. A total of 833,952 coronavirus tests were performed in Shelby County, resulting in a 9% positivity rate.
There were 586 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals in the Memphis area as of 5 pm Thursday, the most recent data available, according to the Tennessee Health Resource Tracking System. The Department of Health will provide weekend hospital data in its Monday update.
The hospital’s capacity for ICU beds is 95% of use, and acute care beds are at 88% occupancy. The number of ICU beds available is 24, with 287 open acute care beds. Bed capacity is calculated by subtracting patient-occupied beds, staffless beds and beds that are not otherwise available.
Of the 586 hospitalized people, 157 are in beds with an intensive care unit team and 429 in beds with an intensive care team.
Those who are COVID-positive or suspected of having the virus represent 40% of ICU patients and 24% of patients in acute care.
On January 1, 126,887 coronavirus vaccines were reported administered in Tennessee, including 1.17% of Shelby residents who received the first of two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, according to state data. The state plans to update the panel on Tuesdays and Fridays.