Tennessee has completed first doses for all of its nursing home residents, and Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey expects a similar milestone for those in assisted living “in the next few days.”
“Then it’ll start all over again, and they’ll go with second doses,” Piercey said Tuesday. “But that’s something that we’re very excited about, to have a fully vaccinated and protected long-term care population, because we know those individuals are at very high risk.”
Like most states, Tennessee has tapped CVS and Walgreens to carry out vaccinations at assisted living centers. Piercey said Walgreens was at 92% complete for its share, and CVS at 66%.
As was anticipated this week, the state has seen an uptick in its vaccine supply. The incoming stock is up about 15%, to roughly 93,000 doses per week. Piercey says she’s hoping for another supply boost before the end of the month, when it’s possible that Tennessee will have completed first doses for everyone age 70 and older.
“It is my hope — and we are looking every single week of we can push further — can we go to [age] 65-plus and [group 1b], which is the teacher category,” Piercey said. “And if I can do that in two or three weeks, I will absolutely do it as supply allows.”
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