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Vaccine hopefuls play waiting game

T-G STAFF REPORT
Posted 1/9/21

Most of Tennessee's 95 counties either currently have a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine or are waiting, like Bedford, on a new supply to arrive, Tennessee Department of Health officials say. TDH shared the following information with the public on Thursday...

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Vaccine hopefuls play waiting game

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Most of Tennessee's 95 counties either currently have a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine or are waiting, like Bedford, on a new supply to arrive, Tennessee Department of Health officials say.

TDH shared the following information with the public on Thursday.

-Vaccine supplies are in extremely limited supply, and the demand for vaccines is great. TDH is pleased with the overwhelming interest Tennesseans are showing in receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, and is working as quickly as possible to provide vaccines as shipments arrive.

-A vaccine tracker is available online. (See www.bloomberg.com/graphics/COVID-vaccine-tracker.)

-Tennessee has consistently been ranked in the top 10 states for percentage of doses used and for total doses administered. Last weekend alone, health department staff administered more than 25,000 COVID-19 vaccinations.

-Tennessee is dependent on vaccine supplies from the federal government. The federal government controls the maximum amount of vaccine doses that states receive, and Tennessee officials are requesting the maximum allotment at every opportunity. We are now in a cadence of receiving additional allocations on a weekly basis.

Shipments are expected to begin arriving soon at Tennessee pharmacies that are partnering with long term care facilities to vaccinate their members and staff onsite. It is vital to get vaccines to those who are the highest risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 as quickly as possible, officials say.

-As a reminder, counties will be progressing through vaccine distribution at different paces, as supplies and demand vary. The county phase status list may be found at https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/CountyPhaseStatus.pdf. (Note: no vaccine currently available.)

-Tennessee Department of Health is diligently working on system improvements, including the new online eligibility tool and alert signup (Eligibility - TN COVID-19 Hub). Additional resources and key updates will be posted online on our COVID-19 Vaccine page here (www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/covid-19-vaccine-information.)

COVID-19 info by the numbers for Bedford County (Friday, Jan. 8):

TOTAL ACTIVE CASES: 520 (+10 since Thursday)

NEW CASES: 32 reported since Thursday

INACTIVE/RECOVERIES: 4,392 (+22 since Thursday)

DECEASED: 75 (Latest death added to state's list Thursday)

TOTAL CASE COUNT SINCE BEGINNING: 4,987 (+32 since Thursday)

-Source: Tennessee Department of Health