What will change now that Memphis is running Shelby County vaccinations.
City of Memphis leaders said Tuesday that every person with an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine dose will keep that appointment as city officials worked to explain the changes underway to Shelby County’s vaccination process.
The Tennessee Department of Health announced Tuesday that Shelby County government would be cut out of the vaccine distribution process after 2,400 doses were wasted and the state’s investigation found vast inefficiencies.
Instead, doses that the county would’ve received will go directly to the city of Memphis, hospitals, pharmacies and local healthcare providers. How much each entity will be allocated is still being worked out.
Things won’t change that much
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and city Chief Operating Officer Doug Mcgowen said the public does not need to reschedule any existing appointments at various sites throughout the city.
“If they have an appointment prior to today, that will not change,” Strickland told the Memphis City Council Tuesday. “From the public’s standpoint, citizens don’t have to do anything differently.”
Mcgowen said the city expects to be able to administer about 30,000 doses a week across sites across Shelby County. He said the city should receive, 13,700 doses of the vaccine on Wednesday for the first doses and then receive an additional 13,700 first doses the following week. The city of Memphis plans on releasing how many doses it administers each day at Covid19. memphistn.gov, Ursula Madden, the city’s head of communications said Tuesday.
The sites where the vaccines will be administered will remain the same: The Pipkin Building, the Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith, the Appling emissions station and Southwest Community College’s Whitehaven branch will all continue to administer vaccines.
Line-skipping is out
Strickland said the city of Memphis would be checking to make sure that every person who gets in line at city-run vaccination sites has an appointment and is eligible to receive a vaccine.
“We will enforce the rules that you have an appointment,” Strickland said. Under the Shelby County Health Department’s oversight, those rules were loosely enforced. Shelby County Health Director Alisa Haushalter said the county was relying on people to follow an honor system.
That honor system method led to long lines and people with appointments not being able to get their shots.
Appointments will be available on same website in short-term
Strickland said the city will continue to use Shelby County’s appointment website over the next two to three weeks. Those appointments can be found at covid19.memphistn.gov/vaccine.
The mayor said the current system was not particularly effective, but the city would continue using it until a state of Tennessee system can be brought online over the next two or three weeks.
Strickland and Mcgowen said the city is working on a contract with a University of Memphis call-center to handle people who call to reserve a vaccine appointment. The Shelby County Health Department hotline designed to handle those appointments has often been overloaded and people without an internet connection have struggled to book appointments.
City learned of changes Tuesday
The city of Memphis learned of the changes the state of Tennessee was making to local vaccine distribution on Tuesday, Strickland and Mcgowen said. They said the city will work to scale and streamline operations across all sites over the next 10 days.
Samuel Hardiman is a watchdog reporter who covers Memphis city government, politics and the pandemic response for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.