Tuscaloosa County Preps For Expanded Vaccination Capabilities

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa County will soon see a highly-anticipated expansion of coronavirus vaccination capabilities, in addition to the availability of more doses for a wider segment of the local population.

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Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge and County Commission Chair Rob Robertson provided an update on local efforts Friday, which coincided with Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Public Health announcing the state will extend eligibility for coronavirus vaccinations to include people 65 or older, and additional groups of frontline workers, beginning Feb. 8.

The additional priority groups will reportedly add over 1 million people that are eligible to receive the vaccine, which will now also include: first responders, corrections officers, food and agriculture workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, educators and educational support staff, child care workers and those employed in the judiciary.

"There’s some tremendous movement today and in the next one to two weeks in our county," Robertson said. "We have been working very hard being prepared for this, logistically, waiting for supply to catch up to where we could get the vaccine and get it out there."

The governor's office pointed out Friday that just under 2 million people will qualify to receive the vaccine, but the state continues to only receive around 100,000 doses each week.

“Alabama is expanding its guidance despite the limited vaccine in order to accelerate the vaccine uptake in our state,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday. “I want to reiterate that any remaining vaccines that have not been administered are either someone’s first dose and they are waiting on their appointment or they are waiting on their second dose. Any vaccine currently in the state has someone’s name on it.”

Bamatracker.com on Saturday reported 772,275 doses of coronavirus vaccines had been delivered to Alabama, with 322,875 doses administered to date.

Robertson explained the expanded vaccination effort will mean additional allocations for Tuscaloosa County that he referred to as "substantial," stopping short of providing hard numbers for the county's current supply and what it could expect with the latest rollout.

He also said the county has been eyeing different options for setting up a large public vaccination site, but also said those plans were still very much in the preliminary stages and will be dependent on how the situation develops in the coming days.

"We get a new option that is collaborative with ADPH," he said. "The challenge has been you don’t know when you can get your vaccine. Now, they’re to a point and quantities are increasing we know we can get vaccines on a regular basis and that’s why they are going to let us expand this."

Vaccinations are currently allocated through three providers in Tuscaloosa County, he said, mentioning the University of Alabama, DCH Regional Medical Center and the Tuscaloosa County Health Department through ADPH. However, other locations have been prepping to become distribution sites and already listed on the ADPH vaccination distribution dashboard, including Bryce Hospital, the Maude Whatley Health Center, Good Samaritan Clinic in Northport, and the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility.

One vaccination site not mentioned on the ADPH dashboard is the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which recently began offering doses of the coronavirus vaccine to military veterans over the age of 65.

Robertson then recalled the uncertainty in the beginning of the pandemic in relation to testing capabilities, which have progressed dramatically in a little under a year. He said the same logic could be applied to the evolution of the vaccine rollout and encouraged the community to do its part to stop the spreading of the virus once vaccines are available to the wider public.

"It's going to be a good step," he said. "There’s still a lot of hesitation in the community and over time, I think some people will warm up to that. People need to know there will be plenty of vaccine. It’s just timing.

"The variants are out there, they are real," Robertson added. "The faster we are able to get shots in arms, the better we are, especially the most vulnerable."

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