Miss. vaccine efforts to speed up soon
State officials say Mississippi’s vaccination rollout efforts have not gone as fast as they would have liked, but they are confident residents will see more progress in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday, the Mississippi State Department of Health formally launched the second phase of the of its three-part vaccine rollout, aimed at the more than 200,000 Mississippians ages 75 and older.
The move comes as part of the state’s effort to speed up access to the vaccine for the more vulnerable population, which remains at the highest risk of contracting and dying from the virus.
Who can be vaccinated next in Mississippi?
Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s state health officer, said the 400,000 residents between ages 65 and 74 will be the next targeted group, and appointments are expected to be available as early as this week.
The timeline was moved up, as both Dobbs and Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday they want to get the vaccine to the state’s most vulnerable population more quickly.
Last week’s launch for the 75 and older group came even earlier than anticipated, as Reeves previously said vaccinations for them would begin Monday.
First responders, teachers and childcare workers, among others, will also be eligible at the same time as that group, according to the health department’s website.
Dobbs said about 15% of the doses set aside for 18 drive-thru sites across the state currently being used for health care workers was used in the first two days of operation. Dobbs said there are plans to get more doses to those sites as more vaccine becomes available and sites will remain open as long as necessary.
“There is going to be some demand that outstrips supply, at least in the short term,” Dobbs said. “It’s not going to be immediately available to everyone,
but we’re going to get it out as quickly as we can and make sure those people who need it the most get it as quickly as possible.”
Many appointments at those drivethrus have already been filled, but Dobbs said they hope to add more slots and expand vaccination sites in the near future.
Plans are already in the works to have a new site open in Hinds County soon and the department may also expand sites in Rankin County.
Dobbs is also aware of some of the challenges facing rural areas and underserved populations. He said there are mobile testing units that will assist in vaccine distribution in places that may not have many options. The department also plans to invest heavily in community health centers, where many Black, Hispanic and Asian residents receive care.
Dobbs said making sure those people have access — as well as information that can help dispel some concern in those communities — are equally important.
“We want everyone to have not only access, but to have trust that the vaccine is right for them,” he said.
Where does Mississippi stand in terms of vaccinations?
As of Wednesday, 189,000 combined doses of vaccine from Pfizer-biontech and Moderna have been allocated to Mississippi, Dobbs said, though not all of it is physically in the state.
About 78,000 of those doses have been set aside for staff and residents at long-term care facilities, but only a small portion has been distributed so far because vaccinations just began on Dec. 28, Dobbs said. Distribution is expected to increase over the next few weeks as immunizations are handled through CVS Health and Walgreens, he said.
Hospitals and medical center across the state have received 54,000 doses and 43% of those doses have been given to health care workers, Dobbs said. Another 13,000 have also been set aside as booster shots for people who have already received their first vaccination.
About 9,500 doses have been sent to private clinics and community health centers so they can begin to vaccinate their staff. Any doses left over will then go to those 75 and older, Dobbs said. Hospitals around the state will get another 20,000 doses to vaccinate staff members who may have missed their first opportunity and anything left over will also go to that age group, he said.
“It takes a little bit of time (to get vaccine out), but we feel that we’re on the right track,” Dobbs said.
A list of private clinics and other providers who can provide vaccinations should be available soon, he said.
Vaccine rollout has numerous challenges, officials say
Liz Sharlot, director of communications for the health department, said many people don’t realize how complicated the vaccination rollout has been.
Logistic issues such as storage have posed most of the problems, but the largest issue has been just being told allocations for the state. Dobbs said that information only tells the health department how many doses to eventually expect — it doesn’t mean they can actually distribute it to residents. That doesn’t lend itself to planning who can receive doses when, he said.
“When you think about the flu vaccine, we have very clear awareness of when we can anticipate flu vaccine and schedule people and work it out,” he said. “We don’t really have that clarity (with COVID vaccines), so we really have to work with what we know when we know it.”
But Dobbs said he expects distribution will substantially increase over the next few weeks.
“You’re going to see us really dipping in and making proper use of what vaccine is available to us,” he said.
Dobbs stressed that residents need to remain vigilant and be safe as rollout continues. “This pandemic’s not going anywhere,” he said. “Even though this vaccine is rolling out, it will be months before we achieve anything close to herd immunity.”
Residents eligible to receive the vaccine can also make appointments at one of 18 drive-thru locations around the state through the Mississippi Department of Health website, covidvaccine. umc.edu. Those without internet access can also call the department’s COVID-19 hotline at (877) 978-6453 for assistance.
Contact Keisha Rowe at nrowe@ gannett.com, on Twitter or at (601) 7602483.