Shelby County has no vaccine left on Wednesday, January 6, and is awaiting word from the state when more of the serum will be administered locally.
As of Tuesday, 49 other provinces in the state were also out.
“We are not involved in the state’s decision on how much we get. We just beg and plead for as much as possible, as often as possible and as consistently as possible, ”said Lee Harris, Mayor of Shelby. “We can just try to get it.”
As of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, provincial officials had heard nothing of when the next consignment would be or how large it would be, forcing them to keep the plans for the next mass clinics out.
So far, 24,700 doses have been administered in Shelby County.
“It’s very difficult to plan if you do not know how much vaccine you are going to receive or when you are going to receive it,” Harris said.
Two hours later, Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Health issued a press release saying it administered the last doses it received in the state’s first grant.
“We have made several requests for more vaccination,” said Alisa Haushalter, director of the health department.
Without information, the department will not be able to keep the public informed of when the next clinics will open.
“When we receive additional vaccine, we will distribute the vaccine according to the phased criteria set by the state,” she said.
State grants are based on population, although it is not clear what the ratio is. Shelby County is one of 29 provinces that meet the state’s social emergency index and qualify for additional doses. The state has not said how many extra doses it will mean.
Hospitals receive separate grants.
The Methodist-Germantown Hospital had enough on Tuesday to start giving second doses to frontline workers who received their first doses 19 days ago.
“We are ordering them as we need them, and so far we have not had any problems getting deliveries,” said Anna Lopez, chief operating officer.
Methodists administer the Pfizer vaccine to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. The doses can be given 19-23 days apart.
“We’re going through them fast,” Lopez said.
In December, the county booked space for two weeks at Lindenwood Christian Church, 2400 Union Ave., to run one of two first-responders and other front-line workers in category 1a1. Seven days later, it had to close the rest of the serum and use it for people in long-term care settings.
Meanwhile, it appears that Shelby County is lagging behind in the vaccination rate, according to the state panel at the bottom of the state. But the numbers are misleading, says the local health department.
“Preliminary reports from all the partnership agencies currently delivering vaccines indicate that an estimated 24,700 people have been vaccinated in Shelby County,” Haushalter said Wednesday.
“However, not all of the vaccines have yet been entered into the Tennessee vaccination database, TennIIS.”
The dashboard, which is updated on Tuesdays and Fridays, currently shows Shelby County with a vaccination rate of 1.28%, the second lowest in the state.
If all the data are represented, the percentage will be 2.6%. The state average is 2.9%.
The state Department of Health did not immediately respond to questions about the backlog.
The state announced the dashboard on Dec. 18 as a tool to help the public see how the vaccination campaign is progressing. It breaks out nationwide vaccinations per day and week and contains a distribution of the percentage of people who received the shot according to age and ethnicity.
It also shows the percentage vaccinated in each country. Future versions will show the number of Tennesseans who received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The dashboard also shows how many shots were given in health care institutions and public health departments, though not by country. Nor does it indicate how much vaccine a country received or how long it took before it was distributed.
The state health department has confirmed that availability varies by country.
“Provinces may progress through COVID-19 vaccination phases at different times, depending on the stock of COVID-19 vaccines and interest in receiving them,” Bill Christian said in an email.
Many health departments across the state began administering vaccines on December 21st. Shelby County waited until after Christmas.
About 25% of the shots on the dashboard given by health departments throughout January 4 were fired before the health department in Shelby County administered them.
But provincial officials say the numbers mean little if there are no more doses on the way.
“I just do not know what you can do other than use the vaccine you are getting,” Harris said.