MS to drastically increase COVID vaccine appointments as Reeves questions hospital supply
Update: The Mississippi State Department of Health is receiving additional COVID-19 vaccine this week, a news release Friday afternoon says.
The release also says: “The additional allotments will support ongoing vaccination appointments at drive-through sites next week and allow for a modest amount of doses to be shared with community partners. The additional vaccine will be distributed to community partners in a manner that seeks to address both geographic and racial disparities.
“We anticipate that we will have an additional drive-through appointments, in more locations, the week of January 25 based on vaccine forecasted to be available at the end of next week.”
Original story: Compared to other states, Mississippi is still near the bottom of the pack in terms of how many residents have received COVID-19 vaccines — “shots in the arm,” as Gov. Tate Reeves likes to say. But that’s about to change, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency director Greg Michel told the Sun Herald on Thursday evening.
He said capacity to book appointments for COVID-19 will increase dramatically, hopefully by Monday but no later than Wednesday. Capacity will quadruple at a state call center and a website will be able to handle higher traffic volumes. He expects more appointments to open up, too.
“My suggestion is wait,” Michel said. “There are going to be more appointments next week. I am confident that people who are trying to get appointments will have a different experience when they get on next week.”
The governor said Thursday that the lagging pace of vaccinations in Mississippi prompted him to open vaccinations earlier this week to residents 65 and older and those 18 to 64 years old with pre-existing health conditions.
As a result, appointments temporarily closed Wednesday because 55,500 Mississippians signed up, overwhelming state scheduling systems. The state plans to vaccinate 30,000 of those who have registered next week at drive-thru clinics, including two Coast locations.
But Michel said new appointments are being added, although they could be limited in number and location until those who have already signed up are vaccinated. By the week of Jan. 25, he said, drive-thru clinics will expand into rural areas.
Mississippians can check online for appointments — the fastest way to schedule a vaccine — at covidvaccine.umc.edu, or call 877-978-6453 or 601-965-4071.
Even more vaccine appointments will open soon
MSDH is focusing its vaccination efforts at 18 drive-thru clinics, including one in Harrison and one in Jackson County, backed up by Mississippi National Guard teams helping administer shots.
Michel also expects community clinics offering vaccinations, including Coastal Family Health Center in South Mississippi, to receive limited amounts of vaccine next week and the week following. Coastal Family is vaccinating the vulnerable population 75 and older.
“Our clinics are going to be a very big ally for us in getting folks vaccinated,” Michel said. “They’re in these communities, they know folks by name. We think these clinics are going to make a huge difference in our vaccination efforts.”
Even more appointments should open up the first week in February at MSDH drive-thru and community clinics, after those who have already registered complete their first doses.
Second-dose supplies of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine are separately allocated and available for those who have received first doses.
Michel said the federal Department of Health and Human Services has assured states that first-dose vaccine numbers should increase by mid-February, which means Mississippi will be receiving more than 30,000 doses a week.
The Mississippi State Department of Health said Wednesday there was “no additional vaccine,” but it has hesitated to schedule appointments too far out without knowing it will have vaccine doses in hand.
But Michel said the revamped call center will have the capacity to reschedule appointments if less vaccine than expected is received, so he also hopes appointments can be schedule further out.
“I want to try to ease the pain and book appointments,” Michel said. As the state coordinating agency for disasters, it is MEMA’s job to assist the MSDH during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hospitals must report shots given
As for hospitals, plans are in flux for COVID-19 allocations. Reeves told the Sun Herald — when he was in Gulfport on Thursday to announce judicial appointments — that he wants to see how many doses hospitals have administered before the state commits more to them.
He holds responsible for Mississippi’s poor performance the pharmacies responsible for vaccinating long-term care employees and residents — Walgreens and CVS under a separate federal contract — and hospitals that, he says, have been holding onto doses.
He doesn’t put Coast hospitals in that category. Both Memorial Hospital and Singing River Health System “have done a fantastic job” of vaccinating residents through community drives, he said.
But, overall, he said, hospitals received 106,000 doses of vaccine and have inoculated only 45,000 people, using less than half the doses they received.
What happened to the other doses?
Reeves shrugged and said he does not know. He has been asking for a printout, by hospital, that would account for all the doses, but he hasn’t received it. He said the MSDH has promised to deliver the data to him Friday.
“We’re going to make policy decisions based on data, not politics,” Reeves said. “I’m not going to sit by and watch Mississippi be at the bottom when hospitals are not putting shots in arms.”
The Mississippi Hospital Association disputes Reeves’ contention, but is still trying to pull together data to show how many doses its members have administered.
“His data is not right, and he knows it’s not right,” said Tim Moore, CEO of the MHA. “(State Health Officer) Thomas Dobbs has told him it’s not right.”
He does agree data has lagged, as does Dobbs, who discussed the issue with the MSDH board on Wednesday.
Reporting is time-consuming, Moore said. Data entry takes six to seven minutes per patient, which adds up when multiplied by 500 vaccines given.
“I’m hoping running those numbers up will get the vaccine back to the hospitals,” Moore said. “There is not another state that has taken away the vaccine from hospitals and clinics, that I know of.
“If you’ve got more sites, you can get more people through quicker, I mean, that just stands to reason. The reporting has been terrible, for whatever reason.”
CDC tracker shows inoculation lag in MS
As MSDH commandeers available doses, the website showed more than 1,000 appointments available Thursday night, but none in South Mississippi.
Reeves told the Sun Herald that he “couldn’t sit around and be 50th.”
By noon Thursday, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data tracker shows, 71,848 Mississippians had received vaccinations. Health care workers were first in line, followed by residents 75 and older, and now the groups Reeves added earlier this week.
Among states, Mississippi had the fourth lowest rate of vaccinations. CDC data showed the state had vaccinated only 7,385 per 100,000 residents. South Carolina had the lowest rate at 6,723 vaccinations per 100,000. All of Mississippi’s neighboring states were doing better.
Reeves said the state has received around 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with 85,000 doses distributed. The numbers include second doses.
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 10:19 PM.
