COVID-19 vaccines in Tennessee will no longer be administered on a first-come-first-served basis as the state plans to launch an online scheduling system next week.
The Tennessee Health Commissioner, dr. Lisa Piercey, announced the plan Friday, saying it was an attempt to curb the large number of people waiting in line for hours just to turn away because of depleted supplies.
“We have realized that it’s a bit more of an obstacle up front to do the online scheduling, but I think – it will not only be for staff and health departments, but certainly for the general public as well – a be much more satisfying system than sitting for a few hours and maybe getting a dose or not, ‘Piercey said during a news conference on Friday.
Piercey did not provide additional details on exactly when the online scheduling system will start or how it will work.
The Hamilton County Department of Health confirmed Friday that it would use a similar system, although no further details were provided.
The local demand for vaccines has long caused controversy in the province and other parts of the state. In Hamilton County, the health department has no more doses within hours, as the grant has been expanded for people 75 years or older. On Wednesday, the department closed the line to its driveway from the Amnicola Highway just after 6 a.m., three hours before vaccination for the approximately 1,000 doses available that day.
The long queues and the shortage of supplies left many residents frustrated, and health officials encouraged patience as the province waited for a new consignment of vaccines. Dr Michelle Fiscus, medical director of the vaccine-preventive diseases and immunization program in the state health department, said during a Wednesday call with nationwide nonprofit leaders that local health departments should receive more doses early next week.
The online scheduling system will be the latest online tool recently added to the Tennessee Department of Health website, aimed at reducing confusion and vaccination information. The state on Tuesday launched an online tool to help Tennesseans know if and when they are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccine explosion comes as the pandemic rages across the country. As of Friday, Tennessee reported 6,369 new COVID-19 cases, 3,249 current hospitalizations and 126 new deaths for a total of at least 7,618 deaths since the pandemic began. The state currently has an average of 7,686 new cases per day over the past week.
In Hamilton County, the health department reported 655 new cases and 4,589 active cases on Friday. Together with 208 hospitalizations, 65 people are in the intensive care unit due to the virus, which is another record. The country had an average of 515 new cases per day over the past week, a record and a positive percentage of about 30% in the past week.
New cases are counting upwards this past week, the first indication of a boom after the Christmas and New Year holidays. The number of hospitalizations remains high, although an increase in hospitalizations often follows in a few weeks after an increase in hospitalizations. An increase in deaths follows a few weeks later, as seen in December when 115 provincial residents died after a resurgence in November.
Baylor School scientists said this week that they believe the new, apparently more contagious COVID-19 variant is in the Chattanooga region. The scientists detected virus mutations in the samples studied in their laboratory. If confirmed, their findings would mean that the variant had spread in southeastern Tennessee before being formally identified in the United States.
Contact Elizabeth Fite at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @ecfite. Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey @ timesfree press.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @ news4mass.