HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — "Our goal is to get vaccines in people. We know people want to be protected, we want to protect them as quickly as possible," said Pam Browning, Public Health County Director for Lincoln, Coffee and Moore counties.
Lincoln County Health Department was giving out vaccines to people who fall under the 1a1 and 1a2 Tier requirements, as well as people over the age of 75.
Tier 1a1 includes frontline healthcare workers and dependent disabled adults. Tier 1a2 includes outpatient healthcare workers with direct patient exposure. People over the age of 75 are now added to the list because they have a higher risk of catching and suffering from COVID-19.
"We screen our people to make sure they fall into the tier one or the tier two and ask if they're 75 or older," said Browning.
Not only do people in line have to meet those requirements, they also have to wait after receiving the shot.
"We are asking that they wait, and most people are complying with that, we wanna make sure they don't have a reaction, so 15 to 30 minutes depending on their situation," said Browning.
The traffic surrounding the health department was no joke. There was a line with hundreds of cars in it and traffic had to be directed by police.
Unfortunately, some people were turned away.
But on the bright side, there will be many opportunities to get the vaccine if you didn't happen to get one today.
RELATED: UPDATE: Lincoln Co. Health Department not accepting any more people at COVID-19 Vaccination Event
"We're gonna move it from this location because it's just not manageable with the traffic. So, we'll be going to an alternate site at the Lincoln County fairgrounds here," said Browning.
Vaccination at the fairgrounds will start on Wednesday, January 6, and will be every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 3pm, as well as Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, while supplies last.
The vaccines will be administered in a drive-thru fashion. Making this vaccine accessible to the masses is important.
"We know we're in the middle of this pandemic, and we need to start vaccinating our people so they can start having the protection. That's really gonna make a difference in turning this pandemic around," said Browning.
