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TDH provides weekly COVID-19 planning and distribution brief
Recently, the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) released their COVID-19 vaccine planning and distribution brief referring to the previous week.
According to the TDH, last week, Tennessee began vaccinating Phase 1c population and updated the COVID-19 vaccination plan. Additionally, the CDC offered guidance for vaccinated people for resuming activities and more than 1 million Tennesseans have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
CURRENT EFFORTS
• Tennesseans in Phase 1c of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan are now eligible for vaccination.
• Phase 1c includes Tennesseans age 16 and older with high-risk health conditions including pregnancy, and parents and caregivers of medically fragile children and those with complex congenital heart disease.
• Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan was updated March 8 to include the following groups among the Phase 1c populations:
- Permanent household members age 16 and older living with pregnant women
- People age 16 years and older with diagnosed diabetes
- People age 16 years and older with Down Syndrome
- People age 16 years and older with progressive neuromuscular diseases such as ALS, multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy
• Tennessee continues vaccinating those age 65 and older in addition to those eligible for COVID-19 vaccination based on risk categories.
• Tennesseans eligible for COVID-19 vaccination can visit Vaccinate.tn.gov to book their appointment for vaccination at their county health department. There are more than 400,000 appointments available in the system for COVID-19 vaccination across the state.
• Information on other vaccination locations in the community is available at VaccineFinder.org. These sites include retail pharmacies, independent pharmacies, hospitals, federally qualified health care centers and faith-based health clinics.
• Tennessee is rapidly vaccinating those at highest risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19. To date, more than one million Tennesseans have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. More than 227,000 vaccinations were provided in the past week.
• More than 2.25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Tennessee providers.
• More than 601,000 Tennesseans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
• One hundred percent of Tennessee’s skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes have completed their first and second vaccination clinics. 95 percent of assisted care living facilities and other long-term care facilities have completed their first and second clinics.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week issued guidance to help people who are fully vaccinated resume activities.
• TDH holds webinars for health care providers every other Friday from noon – 1 p.m. Central time. Providers can submit questions that are answered by the immunization program team. Learn more and register for the March 12 webinar at www.tn.gov/content/tn/health/cedep/ncov/covid-19-webinars.html.
WHAT’S NEXT
• TDH anticipates increasing supplies of COVID-19 vaccine products.
• TDH is partnering with the Tennessee Board of Regents for community-based vaccination events.
BACKGROUND
• The Tennessee Department of Health developed Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan after review of the CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook for Jurisdictional Operations, the recommendations of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine, and in consultation with Tennessee’s Unified Command Group and a stakeholder group of 30 partner organizations.
• The plan was updated Mar. 8, and is subject to change given private sector dynamics and decision-making at the federal level.
• Vaccine allocations to Tennessee’s 95 counties are based on population and distributed to facilities in the county that are prioritized to receive vaccines for administration. Vaccines for second doses are automatically shipped to facilities that received vaccines to administer as first doses.
• Vaccine supplies remain limited, and availability varies by county. Tennessee counties may progress through COVID-19 vaccination phases at different times depending on vaccine supplies. Tennesseans can learn what phase(s) their county is vaccinating at https://covid19.tn.gov/covid-19-vaccines/vaccine-phases/.
- The safety of COVID-19 vaccines is a top priority, and the U.S. vaccine safety system ensures all vaccines are as safe as possible. Learn more at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety.html.
RESOURCES
Find your Phase and request COVID-19 vaccination: https://covid19.tn.gov/covid-19-vaccines/vaccine-phases/
Find COVID-19 vaccination locations: https://vaccinefinder.org/
Information on community pharmacies providing COVID-19 vaccinations: https://covid19.tn.gov/covid-19-community-pharmacy-vaccination-locations/.
Tennessee COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting Dashboard: www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/Vaccine.pdf
CDC guidance for people who are fully vaccinated: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
CMS Visitation Guidance: www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-20-39-nh.pdf
Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability information for older adults about COVID-19 vaccination: www.tn.gov/aging/vaccines.html
AARP guide for getting your COVID-19 vaccination: https://states.aarp.org/tennessee/covid-19-vaccine-distribution
Tennessee Association of Human Resource Agencies transportation assistance: https://tnhra.org/services/transportation/
FAQs on Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan: www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-19_Vacc...
COVID-19 Fact vs. Fiction Videos: https://covid19.tn.gov/stay-informed/explainer-videos/
Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan: www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-19_Vacc...
CDC COVID-19 Data Tracker: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations