Alabama health officials on Wednesday urged patience amid a slow implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations and said the state plans to expand soon who is eligible to get the shots.
The state is in the first phase of its vaccination plan, which prioritizes health workers and residents of long-term care facilities, about 377,000 all. The state has so far received only 226,000 vaccines.
The next group to receive the vaccines are people over 75 and those who are considered a risk taker. No timeline has been set because the state does not yet have enough vaccines for the first group, but dr. Scott Harris, state health officer, said officials expect to expand the distribution soon.
“The vaccination is coming,” Harris said. ‘Although the number of gunshots is not as large as we would like, we believe that most of the reasons for this have been worked out and are behind us. We are going to start adding additional groups of people soon and will be announcing it soon. ”
Alabama, along with Mississippi, Georgia, Michigan, Kansas and Arizona, is at the bottom point for the rate of vaccinations so far, according to numbers compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, implementation has been slow because states have been left to take care of their own distribution.
As of Sunday, Alabama has distributed about 42,000 of its 226,000 shots, or 821 doses per 100,000 residents. Most states reached more than 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants, but few reached 2,000.
Some health professionals who were eligible for the vaccine did not take it. Jefferson County, state health officer, dr. Mark Wilson, said anecdotal evidence suggests that nearly 100% of eligible physicians took the vaccine in the first round, but as many as half of other health professionals have not yet done so, either by choice or due to logistical issues.
Harris said one of the reasons for the slow spread of vaccines is that the state has only 15 sites that can provide the extremely cold storage space for the Pfizer vaccine.
Jefferson County has launched a hotline to notify people who are eligible for the vaccine, and with whom they can sign up for text alerts about increased availability, Wilson said.
“We need people to be patient,” he said. ‘It’s going to take a while to work on this. Some people are going to struggle not to understand why it is not their turn because many of them have a very good reason to be vaccinated, there is no doubt. ”
Harris said in December that the state expects to reach out to the 75-year-old group this month and will not sit on vaccines. Meanwhile, state health officials have warned people to take precautions to prevent infection with the coronavirus, as it is likely to be in the spring or summer before the vaccine becomes available to those who are not at increased risk.
“We just hope people will understand that for a few more months there won’t be enough to go around,” Harris said.
At least one province, Calhoun County, has been allowed to start vaccinations of people over 75 living in the country. Harris said individual provinces with available vaccine have the flexibility to decide to expand their coverage if the stock allows.
According to WBRC, about 900 people in the country received the shots on Tuesday. The Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency said it had to cut the line on Wednesday morning due to the number of people waiting.
“I just thanked God I could get it today and get it as soon as possible,” Joyce Nix told the television station.