Shelby County vaccine rollout expected to improve under Biden
With President Joe Biden now in office, Shelby County officials are expecting both an increased vaccine supply and more predictability about how much vaccine will be available locally and when those shipments will arrive.
Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter said Tuesday local authorities had seen more consistency from the administration of former President Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to Biden’s inauguration, but she expected more regular distribution of more vaccine doses under the new administration.
Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion economic package that would include $20 billion for a national vaccination program, bankrolling ambitious plans to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office.
“I have confidence that it can be done,” said Dr. Steve Threlkeld, co-chair of the infection control program at Baptist Memorial Hospital-memphis. “But like everybody else, everybody’s confidence is a bit low on whether it will be done or not. It’s been a tough road in getting this out there.”
The new president has said he wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up 100 federally-supported vaccination sites nationwide by the end of February and that his administration would oversee the creation of thousands of community vaccination sites and mobile vaccination operations.
Biden also said he could call for the National Guard to assist with vaccination distribution and added he will build on partnerships with pharmacies put in place by the Trump administration.
“All those things will help, but honest to goodness I think the most important thing is just the supply of the vaccine. If we get enough vaccine produced and distributed, then we open up all manner of additional possibilities,” Threlkeld said.
Even if vaccine production increases, more will need to be done to get doses into the arms of willing recipients. As of Monday, 31 million vaccine doses had been delivered nationwide, but only 12 million doses had been given.
“Only a fraction of the allocated doses have actually been given,” Threlkeld said. “There are some holes in the system that go pretty deep, I think, in terms of the supply line.”
As of Jan. 14, 1.36% of the Shelby County population had gotten both vaccine shots, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. Haushalter said there is a lag between when vaccine
doses are given in the county and when the state reports vaccination figures due to different reporting systems used by hospitals, the health department, pharmacies and the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Dr. Judy Martin, who is leading the health department’s vaccine rollout, said the department had distributed 13,335 doses of the vaccine as of Saturday. That tally does not include doses administered by local hospitals.
To increase vaccine distribution locally, more vaccination sites will be needed across Shelby County. That includes both fixed sites like the Pipkin Building and one in the works in Whitehaven, but also mobile vaccine sites, Haushalter said.
She said the state and the county would work jointly to set up additional vaccine sites once there is more clarity from the federal government on vaccine distribution plans.
But, the county needs to receive more doses before it can open more vaccination sites, she said last week.
“It really is about supply,” she said. “It’s not only knowing how much our supply is but predictability on when we’ll receive it.”
Haushalter said she expects more predictability on what Shelby County’s weekly vaccine allocation will be starting Feb. 1.
The county will place vaccine orders weekly and will know by each Friday how many doses will be available the following week.
“(We’re) really waiting for the changes we expect to come after (the) transition to the Biden administration,” she said.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Corinne Kennedy covers economic development, soccer and COVID-19’S impact on hospitals for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.kennedy@commercialappeal. com or at 901-297-3245.