HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Many health care workers are getting vaccinated in the Tennessee Valley. The next group in line to get the vaccine is senior citizens. Officials shared they expect those 75 and older could have access to the vaccine within the next week or two.
"We all anticipate more vaccine, ours came today and I believe Huntsville System is also expecting to get theirs today as well," said Dr. Pam Hudson, CEO of Crestwood Medical Center.
As more vaccines roll into the community, the possibility of the vaccine getting out to more people in the next few weeks rises.
This means that we may start slowly transitioning out of phase 1a soon.
"I would expect that we will move to phase 1b, we meaning our county, within the next week or two, I think with this next shipment that has finally appeared here, we will make short order work of getting the folks who have registered but we're waiting on the doses to come in, that will happen within the next week and that we'll get some guidance that would give us the opportunity to move to the next level," said Hudson.
Like Hudson said, people will need to register for the vaccine but there is a good reason why.
"We're not ready to say this is like a drive-thru flu shot, where you wait five minutes, everything's good and you can pull on away. So, that's why at least our site, we're asking that people register, then we call, make the appointment, so that this can be orderly," said Hudson.
Group 1b includes those 75 and older but it also includes a bigger portion of the community, such as...
"Essential or frontline workers, city workers, infrastructure, folks who are meeting lot of people because it's their job, people who work in grocery stores and pharmacies and things like that," said Hudson.
After phase 1b is vaccinated, more opportunities for people to get the vaccine will open up.
"But our goal is to get to those at-risk people, at the 65 and up, and that's probably going to be the phase after 1b or at least later in 1b, we've got to get the 75 and up vaccinated next," said Hudson.