The state of Alabama has made the COVID-19 vaccine available to more than half of the state’s adult population from today and could open the floodgates to offer the vaccine to all adults in the coming weeks.
The Alabama Health Officer, dr. Scott Harris, said Friday that “probably between half and two-thirds” of the state’s adult population will be eligible for the vaccine as of today.
“We think it’s going to more than double the number of eligible people in our state,” Harris said Friday. “Probably between half and two-thirds of all the adults in the state will be covered at that point, so that would be a significant increase in demand.”
The following groups of people are now eligible for the vaccine throughout the country:
- Any Alabamic age 55 and older
- Various categories of essential workers (health care, first responders, educators and child care workers, food workers, legal, energy, media, others)
Alabamis older than 16 are also eligible for certain health conditions that put them at higher risk due to COVID-19. These conditions include:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD
- Heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy; immune-weakened state
- Fixed organ transplant
- Obesity, BMI greater than 30
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Smoke
- Type 1 and 2 diabetes
- Other medical conditions as determined by your medical provider
In addition, Alabama veterans of any age can receive the vaccine through some VA hospitals.
All of the groups identified as a priority under Alabama’s vaccine award plan are now officially eligible to receive the vaccine. The next phase of the plan will open it to all Alabamians 16 years and older.
Harris said Friday that Alabama will offer the vaccine to the general public before a May 1 deadline set by President Joe Biden, and “it could be much earlier.”
Mississippi and Alaska are already offering the vaccine to all adults, and other states, including Nevada, Connecticut, Ohio, Utah and North Dakota, have already announced plans in the coming weeks.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Alabama has given more than 1.4 million doses of vaccine as of Monday morning. The CDC reports that more than 967,000 Alabamians – 25.4 percent of the state’s adult population – have received at least one dose of vaccine. More than 566,000 Alabamans received their full vaccination.
There are currently three COVID vaccination options granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, made by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require a second dose, which is administered weeks after the first dose, but have better overall efficacy results in clinical trials than the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.
The vaccine has not yet been approved for children, so only those aged 16 and over are eligible. Studies are underway to determine the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in people under 16 years of age.
All three vaccines have been very effective in preventing serious cases of COVID-19, including hospitalizations and deaths.
COVID-19 killed more than 10,400 Alabamians and more than 539,000 people in the United States.