When can I get the coronavirus vaccine in Mississippi? Here’s the schedule
The schedule of how vaccine is allocated in Mississippi has changed since it was released in early January.
Free vaccinations currently are available through Mississippi State Department of Health at drive-thru sites across the state. Appointments are available online at covidvaccine.umc.edu or by phone at 877-978-6453.
Appointments generally are added in the morning starting around 8 a.m. and fill up fast.
Those who live or work in Mississippi currently eligible to get vaccine are:
▪ Frontline health care workers
▪ Residents and staff at nursing homes and other long term care facilities
▪ Adults age 65 and older
▪ Those age 16-64 with one of the following pre-existing conditions listed by MSDH that puts them at higher risk from severe complications from COVID-19:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Down Syndrome
- Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
- Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but less than 40 kg/m2)
- Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2 or higher)
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Or other medical conditions as determined by your medical provider.
Gov. Tate Reeves said he expects teachers and first responders to be the next groups eligible for the vaccine, but no date has been announced.
Original article Jan. 4:
The Mississippi State Department of Health on Monday released the first tentative timeline for the vaccine rollout across the state.
The schedule started Monday with drive-thru sites throughout the state for health-care workers, including one at the Jackson County Health Department in Pascagoula that also will be open Wednesday.
A site at the Harrison County Health Department in Gulfport will be open Tuesday.
The vaccine for health-care workers is given by appointment only, which can be made through the Health Department website.
The remaining schedule was released Monday on social media:
In progress — Phase 1a
- All health-care personnel
- Long-term care facility residents
Mid-January — Phase 1b.1
- Those age 75 and older
- First responders (police and fire)
- K-12, college and university teachers and staff
- Child-care workers
- Correction officers and staff
- Group-setting workers
February — Phase 1b.2
- Food and agriculture workers
- U.S. Postal Service workers
- Manufacturing, grocery store and public transit workers
February — Phase 1c.1
- Those age 65 and older
- Those age 16-64 with high risk medical conditions
March — Phase 1c.2
- Those age 16 and older in group settings or correctional facilities
- Other essential workers as defined by CISA
“We are going to start allowing vulnerable Mississippians to have access sooner than might have otherwise occurred,” Reeves said at a press conference Monday. “Starting next week, those over the age of 75 will have access to the vaccine.”
Announcements about when vaccinations are available for other groups, where to go for a vaccination, and how to make an appointment will be on the health department’s website.
Two vaccinations, 21 or 28 days apart, will be required to be fully effective the health department website says, and large-scale testing of the vaccine found no major side effects.
Governor’s update
At the Monday press conference, Reeves and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs explained more about the vaccine rollout so far.
Reeves said the state was allocated 190,000 doses, but allocated isn’t the same as delivered. “There was not 190,000 delivered to Mississippi, there was 190,000 — actually 189,250 — that were allocated to Mississippi thus far.”
Of those, 163,750 doses have been distributed across the state, including 78,000 to long-term care facilities that are administered through a federal contract with CVS and Walgreens.
Dobbs said 23,511 people in the state have gotten the first vaccine dose.
“Admittedly, it’s going slower than I had hoped... it’s gone slower in Mississippi and across the country than any of us wanted,” Reeves said.
He blamed the CDC’s decision to take time to determine priority groups as part of the reason for delays.
“In my mind, part of the reason for the hold-ups, is the CDC decision to hold back and focus on who should be getting the vaccine and who should get it first,” the governor said.
“Right now, the most important task that we have is getting vaccine out to the public,” he said. “That is our only way out of this.”
Mississippi is at a critical time right now, with more patients in hospitals with COVID-19 than ever before, Reeves said. That’s why the state has prioritized health-care workers in the vaccine rollout.
“We simply cannot afford to have 5 or 10 or 15% of them either with COVID or on quarantine,” Reeves said. “We need 100% of those workers.”
Dobbs said 174 health-care clinics across the state have signed up to administer the vaccine.
The cost of the vaccine is free, but a fee to administer the shot may be charged to insurance companies. There is no fee for shots given by the health department, he said.
He said 80-100% of LTC residents are getting the shots, he said.
It is most important for those who work at long-term care facilities to get the vaccine, since nursing home residents are the most at risk and typically catch the coronavirus from staff, Dobbs said.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 2:29 PM.
