Currently, the vaccine is still only available to people in Phase 1a of the vaccine plan: frontline healthcare workers and people living in nursing homes/long-term care facilities. On Monday, vaccines will be available to those 75 and older and first responders, in addition to those in the 1a category.
As the phases open up to include more people, the biggest problem the ADPH faces is the lack of available vaccination sites and medical professionals to perform the procedure, Coffee County Emergency Management Agency Director James Brown said last Monday.
While the EMA has no role to play in dispersal, he said they are doing all they can to support ADPH’s efforts behind the scenes by encouraging as many organizations, businesses and healthcare providers as possible in the community to sign up for an ImmPRINT account on the ADPH website. Municipalities are eligible for ImmPRINT accounts, too.
“We need as many providers out there as possible because ADPH cannot do this by themselves. It’s unfortunate, but the reality,” Brown said. “If we can get ADPH to give us vaccines under that account, then we can open up our own sectors to give the vaccine to our own people, and to me that’s the best way to move forward. We can help ADPH out and ourselves out. The more providers we have, the faster we can do this.”
Gov. Kay Ivey urged patience as officials figure out the most efficient ways to proceed.
