This story was updated on January 19 at 5:00 pm with response from the Department of Public Health in Alabama.
Four Alabama lawmakers – two of whom have been hospitalized with COVID-19 themselves – have signed a letter stating that the state’s slow rollout and inconsistent reporting could lead to fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses in the future. will get.
State Senators Jim McClendon, Greg Albritton, Tom Whatley and Randy Price – all Republicans – issued a letter on Tuesday entitled “The COVID Vaccine Distribution Problem in Alabama,” blaming the Alabama Department of Public Health for the slowdown of the administration of the vaccine and the failure to do so. to accurately record its distribution efforts so far.
“The distribution of vaccines to Alabama will continue to be interrupted until Alabama complies with the rules,” the letter said. The rule is simple: the CDC may not authorize shipments to Alabama until they know we are using what we have. Our citizens are paying a deadly price. ‘
The ADPH issued a response on Tuesday afternoon, saying that the department was in an ongoing discussion with CDC about how many doses were administered in the state, and that the state had not missed any doses of vaccine.
“The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses assigned to Alabama is based on our population and is not determined by how much vaccine is available in the state,” the ADPH said. “The number of doses left over from previous awards has no bearing on the number of doses authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Alabama.”
In their letter, the senators referred to a new policy, announced by the CDC last week, that the allocation of vaccines would be prioritized to countries that distribute the vaccine faster. However, the policy was not immediate and has not yet taken effect.
CDC data at the end of last week showed that Alabama has the lowest COVID vaccination rate of any state, although ADPH said it does not match the CDC numbers. The department said it was taking steps to ensure that all doses given in the state were counted.
The Alabama Senators argue that rankings could lead to reduced deliveries to Alabama. The senators say the ADPH is unable to provide information to the CDC on how many doses have been received, distributed and administered daily to patients in the state. They say more than 200 sites that distribute the vaccine should be forced to report the doses quickly.
“In a nutshell, ADPH needs to put every dose administered into the registry so that the Feds can send us more,” the letter reads. “While more than 200 places are giving doses, not everyone goes in. And to to be honest, doctors, pharmacists, nurses who do Covid vaccinations in addition to their daily duties do all ADPHs, and the blame for not entering doses in the register is not productive. ”
The ADPH said in its reply that the questions had been answered.
The information to answer each of the questions in the letter is publicly available on the ADPH COVID-19 vaccine distribution panel, which is available on the ADPH website (arcg.is/OrCey), and has been updated from 19 January. 2021, ”the department said. “The CDC data is available on the Vaccine Detection System website (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations), although CDC has not updated Alabama’s information since January 15, 2021. “
This week, Alabama’s COVID vaccine panel, which is updated weekly, began to see more frequent updates and now shows higher totals than the federal database.
ADPH Assistant General Dana Billingsley said in an email to AL.com last week that vaccine providers should report the vaccine information within 24 hours of the vaccine being given, but that some providers “do not provide complete information”. not “, which led to some doses. is not taken up by the state.
“This problem is being addressed and rectified to ensure that all doses of vaccine are counted in CDC data,” Billingsley said Friday.
The senators suggest that ADPH requires accurate and timely reporting from the clinics, pharmacies and hospitals that provide the shots, and that facilities that cannot meet the reporting requirements will not receive an additional vaccine before it does. ‘
McClendon and Price were each admitted to hospital with COVID, while Price apparently needed a ventilator during his recovery. Whatley said he also tested positive but did not need hospitalization.
The department said it was doing everything in its power to administer the vaccine as quickly as possible.
“Every day, ADPH receives thousands of calls, emails and messages on social media from people who make suggestions to speed up the vaccination process,” ADPH said. ‘We appreciate any recommendations, and want the public to be reassured that ADPH has a tremendous number of physicians, nurses, public health experts and other medical professionals who continue to work tirelessly to vaccinate vaccines in Alabama. A vaccination plan of this magnitude is truly unprecedented, and ADPH is grateful for everyone’s continued patience as we work to end the COVID-19 pandemic. ”
*AL.com reporter Sarah Whites-Koditschek contributed to this report.