The Mobile County Department of Health confirmed Thursday and again Friday that it had dispensed doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to people who were not eligible to receive one.
The doses were administered earlier this week during a ‘soft opening’ of a mass vaccination clinic scheduled for Saturday at the Alabama Cruise Terminal in downtown Mobile. And health officials will ensure that only those who are eligible will receive a vaccine at the clinic.
“They took advantage of the situation,” said Mark Bryant, a spokesman for the Mobile County Health Department. “It was supposed to be by invitation only the other day.”
Dr. Rendi Murphree, director of the Mobile County Disease Surveillance and Environmental Studies Bureau, said in a Facebook news update on Thursday that “we were not perfect” with the soft implementation of the vaccine administration.
It is unclear how many people who were not eligible to receive a vaccine received one during the soft opening events. The health department is holding an update on Facebook again today at 14:30.
“People who were not honest with their age are misleading our selectors to say they had special permission from the doctor’s office or the health department,” Murphree said. He describes the people who received a vaccine this week, but who are not eligible. “We are working to refine these processes to ensure that the vaccines we give occur in the current phase 1A, and that is for all first responders and people aged 75 and older.”
The mass vaccination clinic on Saturday will be for people aged 75 and older starting at 08:30 and will be until 13:30 from 13:30 to 20:30, and first responders can get a chance.
Bryant said the Department of Health would ensure that people could not even be admitted to the clinic on Saturday, and Murphree said the Department of Health recommended that people be eligible to receive the vaccine, which is 75 years old. is old. on, limit the number of people who are with them when they arrive at the terminal.
“We expect a long wait,” she said. ‘If you’re in the age groups (who are eligible for a vaccine), try not to take along too many people who are not eligible. We try to keep the numbers low so that we can promote social distance. ”
Bryant said the soft opening opportunities were needed to make sure the department was prepared on Saturday to handle the distribution of 1,000 of the Moderna vaccines. She said 500 of the vaccines would be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to people over 75 years of age. He said people need to bring the right identification along before they can get a chance.
He also denounced the allegations raised in a TV news report that the vaccine was given to anyone who showed up at a ‘secret clinic’. He said the Mobile County Health Officer, dr. Bernard Eichold’s wife had not yet received a vaccine, and that ‘if we had given one to everyone we wanted, she would have received the vaccine. She waits like everyone else in turn. ”
The cruise terminal clinic represents the first mass vaccination effort in Alabama on the coast since the vaccination became available before the Christmas holidays.
This comes after news reports surfaced illustrating how dismal Alabama’s vaccination rate was during the initial deployment. According to state and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina have less than 2% of the population with the first dose of vaccine.
On Thursday, Mobile City and U.S. health officials opened a vaccination clinic at the Mobile Civic Center. But the clinic is working on follow-up appointments for people receiving their second dose of Pfizer vaccine, which is the only vaccine the site is currently handling. It is unclear when the vaccination only starts with appointment.
People who show up for a vaccine on Saturday do not have to be a Mobile County resident. But health officials are hopeful they can focus more on provincial residents in the coming weeks.
A vaccination clinic in Baldwin County is available January 19, 21, 26 and 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Daphne Civic Center. The province, in partnership with the Alabama Department of Public Health, will provide parking and registration for residents 75 years and older, first responders and health workers.
Officials said they plan to vaccinate at least 60 people a week, two days a week, for the next two weeks.