All residents 16 years and older are eligible for vaccine appointments from next week, Shelby County Department Deputy Director David Sweat told provincial commissioners Monday afternoon, March 22nd.
The city of Memphis, which has nationwide control over the distribution of vaccines, tweeted late Monday that there are 8,000 appointments available this week for those aged 45 and older, and it will report vaccinations for ages 16 and up on Friday, March 26th. parent for slots next week.
The news follows an announcement earlier Monday by Government Bill Lee that all adults in Tennessee will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination no later than April 5th.
Lee’s decision has expectations that more vaccine would come, but the intake of available doses is lower than expected, especially in West Tennessee, which could pose logistical challenges.
“The federal government has asked us to make sure every adult has access by May 1. Tennessee will meet the deadline,” Lee said on Facebook on Monday.
Several provinces will begin vaccinating all adults in the coming days, he said.
Sweat spoke to the commission on Monday on behalf of the city of Memphis, which now controls the vaccine nationwide.
Madison County opened its appointments to all adults over the weekend.
The state is improving access as more vaccine becomes available and it is struggling with lower percentages than expected of people willing to take it.
Next week, for example, the supply of first doses will increase by 30% as more of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is shipped, bringing the total weekly doses in Tennessee to more than 350,000, said Dr. Lisa Piercey, commissioner of state Health, said Department.
Without adding the question, government officials are worried that the doses could just sit on a shelf.
“We expected some of it. But honestly, we did not expect such a low uptake in some of our areas, ”Piercey said.
‘While we have a lower recording level, it means we have an oversupply. And you’re been hearing me say for months now, the last thing I want is for any vaccine to be on a shelf, ‘Piercey said.
The situation is worst in Western Tennessee, where in some cases only 20% of the appointment slots are filled. In the upper regions of Central Tennessee, more than 80% of appointments are filled.
‘It’s a challenge to try to find the right balance between supply and demand. That is why we feel that it is really important that provinces can move at their own pace until the opening of it for all adults, ”she said.
People 55 and older who were allowed to plan shots for the first time on Thursday, March 18th.
On the same day, the state also opened vaccine for people in certain essential industries, including child and adult protection services, commercial agriculture, commercial food processing, repair staff, transportation, postal workers and public infrastructure, including people picking up and processing solid waste, utilities and energy.
Piercey said the state will provide additional vaccine to cater to the categories of people to be vaccinated in the spring, including an estimated 200,000 grocery workers and university students.
‘They will still get preference; they are just not going to have a specific time frame, ”she said.
Tennessee is getting a black eye nationally for the pace of its vaccination efforts. On Monday, Tennessee ranks 47th in the country for the number of people vaccinated per 100,000. Only Alabama and Georgia are lower.
Piercey has spoken regularly over the past few weeks about the interaction between equity and speed, saying Tennessee has focused on equity, including access for the elderly and poor.
On Monday, she said she was “completely irreconcilable” that Tennessee had initially delayed things for the elderly and vulnerable population.
When the state began to move faster in early to mid-February, it, along with many other southern states, was hit by a week of snowstorms.
“Looking back at the rankings, you saw around mid-February that all the states, mostly southern states affected by the blizzard, really went to the bottom of the list,” she said.
The states, she said, have remained because they share a significant population of African-Americans, low-income workers and conservatives in rural areas, who are increasingly reluctant to be vaccinated.
Directors from the state health department across the South are thinking of ways to change the trajectory, she said.
“As long as the uptake is low, our rankings will be pretty low because we do not make this vaccine mandatory,” Piercey said.
The state has more than 500,000 appointments available each week. For people who live in urban areas where appointments are still fast, they can travel to a nearby province.
Go to vaccinefinder.org to see appointments across the country. The federal website allows people to choose their vaccine by brand name and choose the distance for which they are willing to get it.
Locally, appointments can be scheduled online or by calling 901-222-7468 (SHOT).