Officials: More must sign up for vaccine
Numerous appointment slots for the COVID-19 vaccine remain available this week, officials said Tuesday, and more people must start signing up to receive the vaccine for the county to achieve its goal of vaccinating 70% of the population.
“We are soon approaching a situation where we may have more vaccine than people signing up, so we want to get vaccinating as many people as we can as soon as we can,” said Bruce Randolph, health officer for the Shelby County Health Department.
Randolph said Tuesday that he’s an advocate for opening vaccinations to the general public or moving people in lower phases, such as grocery workers, up in the vaccination timeline.
“We don’t want vaccine going to waste, not being used because people who are not in a given phase are not signing up,” he said. “Certainly I’m an advocate of whosoever will, let them come and receive the vaccine.”
In Tuesday’s news conference, Gina Sweat, director of fire services for the city of Memphis, stressed that some people might not know they are currently eligible for the vaccine.
Currently, the state, including Shelby County, is in phase 1c. That includes residents who are 16 years old or older with health conditions that put them at risk of serious illness from COVID-19, including asthma, obesity (BMI over 30), chronic renal disease, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, sickle cell disease, cerebrovascular disease or stroke, dementia and liver disease.
The vaccine is also available to caregivers of people with high-risk medical conditions and women who are pregnant.
People in prior phases, including first responders, health care workers, teachers and child care workers who have not yet been vaccinated remain eligible for vaccination during phase 1C as well as is anyone age 65 or older.
Also this week, the county received 500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which will be used for people who are homebound or homeless.
Currently, local officials are in dialogue with the state as to when to move into the next vaccination phase, said Doug Mcgowen, chief operating officer for the city of Memphis.
“We have to stay in rhythm with the state of Tennessee,” Mcgowen said.
Mcgowen said he expects an update this week, but not necessarily that the state will be prepared to move into a new phase, since other counties are not experiencing the same lagging demand.
Individuals need to discuss eligibility and health issues with their friends and family, he said, even as the city and county work to roll out educational campaigns to encourage people to take the vaccine, Mcgowen said.
Messaging will also target specific populations based on data, Mcgowen said. For example, they are planning messaging directed at men, since only about 30% of vaccinations have gone to men.
“It’s everything from boots on the ground grassroots campaign from people in neighborhoods who are influencers and people trust to get that message out to a more broad ranging campaign, and we are working on every front to break down those barriers,” he said.