MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) reports there have been 417,528 cases and 6,030 deaths due to COVID-19 in Alabama as of Jan. 15.
To date, 130,394 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alabama. A total of 370,575 doses of the 640,150 doses allocated to Alabama have been delivered. The federal government has not delivered some allocated doses to Alabama. ADPH does not concur with data recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranking Alabama near the bottom in vaccine administration. ADPH, as part of its ongoing review of vaccine data, determined that some entities did not report complete information which meant that some doses administered were not included in CDC numbers. This issue has been corrected, and providers are reminded that all doses of COVID-19 vaccine must be recorded in the system within 24 hours of administration.
On Monday, ADPH will begin vaccination of individuals age 75 and older, law enforcement officers and firefighters in addition to health care workers at county health departments by appointment statewide. Because COVID-19 vaccine administration is a priority, ADPH will be limiting or reducing other public health services at county health departments for the foreseeable future in order to have enough providers to administer every available dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
ADPH appreciates the patience of all citizens during this time, especially with concerns about lack of expected COVID-19 vaccine and decreased access. The demand for vaccine continues to greatly exceed supply as Alabama has more than 326,000 healthcare workers and nearly 350,000 people who now qualify for a vaccine because they are 75 years old and older. Priority access to vaccine cannot be granted to other groups of people yet as ADPH follows the recommendations of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the allocation of this limited supply.
While trying to address the needs of Alabamians in the currently identified groups, ADPH continues working to improve COVID-19 vaccine scheduling capabilities by creating an online registration portal in addition to its extremely busy toll-free hotline.
ADPH requests that the public not call this appointment line to schedule a vaccine UNLESS they are in an eligible group – health care workers, people age 75 and older, law enforcement officers or firefighters.
For Jefferson County only, appointments are NOT being made by the ADPH COVID-19 Vaccination Scheduling Hotline. People seeking vaccination who are in the current Vaccine Allocation Phase may contact the Jefferson County Unified Command (JCUC) COVID-19 Call Center at 205-85VACC1 (205-858-2221). JCUC has reminded the public to be aware that in Phase 1a, the vaccine is to be distributed to health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities. Those who are not in the currently eligible group are asked to please not attempt to pre-register so that those who are currently eligible can have the opportunity to get through.
The toll-free COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling Hotline number is 1-855-566-5333. For general information about COVID-19, including locations where testing is available, call the COVID-19 Information Hotline number at 1-800-270-7268.
View the Alabama COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Plan at www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/adph-covid19-vaccination-allocation-plan.pdf.
