Just as Tennessee has stopped distributing COVID vaccines to major health systems, the state’s Department of Health has announced more than 100 clinics and pharmacies in underserved areas will start giving vaccine.
“We’re eager to launch these partnerships to help bring the vital resource of COVID-19 vaccines to Tennesseans in communities most vulnerable to serious and lasting social and economic challenges due to the pandemic,” Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey says in a statement.
Nearly half of the two dozen clinics set to start giving vaccine (listed here) are in Davidson County. They include Neighborhood Health as well as Siloam Health.
The pharmacy distribution sites (listed here) reach rural and suburban areas, including four local pharmacies in both Rutherford and Warren counties. The plan also includes Walmart pharmacies in Shelby County.
“These pharmacies and clinics are easily accessible to Tennesseans who have barriers to receiving health care, like lack of transportation or health insurance,” Piercey says.”We’re bringing COVID-19 vaccines to familiar and convenient locations for residents of these communities to receive their vaccinations.”
The locations will still follow their county’s current phase of distribution, which has varied across urban and rural areas. The first shipments should arrive this week, and each location will establish its own scheduling process.
The announcement comes as the Tennessee Department of Health has warned large health systems not to expect much vaccine in the coming weeks and after some tension over hospitals prioritizing their own patients, though that’s what they were told to do in a letter from Piercey herself.
In another letter sent to hospitals on Wednesday of this week, Piercey explained that other sites were going to take priority in an effort to make distribution more equitable.
Tennessee has been receiving roughly 80,000 doses each week, though they’re expecting a slight bump from the federal government in the coming week.
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