How long until you can get a COVID vaccine in Mississippi? Online tool gives an idea
Mississippi health officials say the first batches of the COVID-19 vaccine could arrive by next week, with plans for distribution to get underway soon.
So how long could it be before you get one?
A new online tool launched by The New York Times uses age, county of residence, profession and underlying health risks to determine “where you might fit in line” for the highly anticipated vaccine. The Times worked with the Surgo Foundation and Ariadne Labs to create the tool, which calculates your spot in line based on who’s most at risk.
The results are only one possibility, however, and depend on successful vaccines being tested in every group, according to the newspaper. The pace of distributions state-by-state is “also an open question,” according to the Times.
In Mississippi, health officials hope to have at least 25,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine available for health care workers — including hospital staff and long-term care facility employees — by early next week, according to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
Phase 2 of the state’s vaccination rollout includes teachers and child care providers, first responders, distribution workers and residents aged 65 and or older at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness, an early draft of a distribution plan from the State Department of Health reads.
This means Mississippi’s healthier residents will have to wait a little while longer before they can get the shot.
For example, Dobbs is over 50 and presumably has no underlying medical conditions. He lives in Hinds County, where the tool determined there are about 2.7 million Mississippians in line ahead of him for the vaccine. In Hinds County alone, he’s behind at least 228,400 others, the results show.
Here’s how other Mississippians may fare as they await the vaccine. We’ve included a range of ages in counties across the state, which has a population of about 3 million.
A 37-year old health care worker with no underlying health risks in Hinds County:
- Behind “very few people” with higher risks across Mississippi
- Behind “few others” in Hinds County, which had the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the state as of Tuesday.
If the line in Mississippi was represented by about 100 people, this person would be roughly the fourth person in line for the vaccine.
A 65-year-old teacher with an underlying condition in Harrison County:
- Behind about 195,800 others in Mississippi
- Behind 14,400 others in Harrison County, which has a population of about 208,080 residents.
If the line in Mississippi was represented by about 100 people, this person would be roughly the 33rd person in line for the vaccine.
A 17-year-old high school senior with no underlying conditions in Hancock County:
- Behind 1.9 million others in Mississippi
- Behind about 27,800 others in Hancock County, home to 47,600 residents
If the line in Mississippi was represented by about 100 people, this person would be roughly the 86th person in line for the vaccine.
A 33-year-old first responder in DeSoto County:
- Behind 157,400 other Mississippians
- Behind about 6,400 others in DeSoto County, which has the state’s highest COVID-19 cases total at 11,203 cases, according to MSDH data.
If the line in Mississippi was represented by about 100 people, this person would be roughly the eighth person in line for the vaccine.
An 85-year-old with underlying conditions in a nursing home in Adams County:
- Behind about 121,900 others in Mississippi
- Behind 1,100 others in Adams County, home to about 30,700 residents.
If the line in Mississippi was represented by about 100 people, this person would be roughly the seventh person in line for the vaccine.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 5:03 PM.