MSDH: No vaccination appointments until Feb.
An accelerated statewide COVID-19 vaccination plan unveiled Tuesday has led to massive surge in demand, resulting in all of Mississippi’s available vaccine doses being committed to immunization appointments.
In a statement Wednesday, the Mississippi State Department of Health said all doses that have been distributed to hospitals, private clinics and its 18 drive-thru locations are now dedicated to appointments. Additional vaccine and appointment slots will likely not be available until mid-february, according to the statement.
“Mississippians should understand that we can only vaccinate residents based on vaccine availability,” the statement reads. “We will open additional vaccination appointments as we receive more vaccine.”
According to the health department’s website, more than 264,000 doses have been distributed throughout the state. As of Wednesday, 73,391 doses had been administered to patients statewide and 7,367 people have been fully vaccinated.
Increased demand overwhelms scheduling systems
The department also said its online and telephone scheduling systems were not prepared to take on the unprecedented volume they have experienced.
The health department’s online system, created in partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, implemented a waiting system Wednesday morning to accept appointments. At its peak, more than 8,000 residents were in line to try to make appointments through the site.
The queue has since been eliminated and residents can now see the remaining available appointments at the state’s 18 drive-thru locations in real time.
Vaccine plan accelerated as officials say rollout is too slow
The massive surge in interest comes as Mississippi aims to speed up its distribution plan.
On Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves announced that all residents ages 65 and older, as well as those ages 18-64 with underlying conditions, are now able to be vaccinated in the state. Reeves has said for the past two weeks that Mississippi’s vaccine rollout has been too slow and he’s been focused on getting vaccine out faster to the state’s most vulnerable residents.
According to the health department’s previous vaccination plan, both groups of residents greenlighted for vaccinations Tuesday were originally scheduled to be vaccinated beginning in late January and into February.
Reeves said the goal is to reach between 60,000 to 100,000 vaccinations per week at drive-thru sites and other distribution points until all residents who wish to receive the vaccine are able to get it.
“The only way that can happen is if these other programs or private clinics or hospitals, and our federal pharmacy programs for our nursing homes start seeing a significant uptick in the number of shots that they give,” he said.