There are 64 article(s) tagged David Sweat:
Shelby County is about 51% toward its goal of vaccinating 700,000 people, according to the county Health Department. As of Thursday, 355,102 total people are vaccinated with 270,297 of them fully vaccinated.
Tennessee is one of the eight lowest performing states for vaccinations; Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris says incentives are necessary.
Vaccination rates in Shelby’s ZIP codes range from 21% to 62%.
The site will remain open, but with new hours beginning Thursday.
Shelby County children as young as 12 were starting to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on Thursday, May 13.
The mask mandate will be lifted in the new health directive, beginning Saturday, May 15.
The City of Memphis is ready now to set up phone banks, dispatch street teams.
One variant linked to India’s recent COVID-19 surge was detected in Shelby County this week, said David Sweat, Shelby County Health Department deputy director.
FEMA is expected to pack up and leave May 17, taking 21,000 extra doses of the vaccine with it.
Demand, even with $20 gift cards, is at one-third of the capacity to administer COVID-19 vaccines.
U.K. variant is now the most common in Shelby County. The question is, how sick will it make people in their 20s, 30s and 40s?
City also giving MATA riders free rides to Pipkin and making blocks of slots available to groups, including businesses.
With ample vaccine, the push is on to get people in line to stem the tide of the rapidly growing U.K. strain, which now accounts for 30%-50% of COVID cases in Shelby County.
Vaccinating 700,000 people — about 70% of the population —would be sufficient for the county to reach herd immunity, according to local public health experts.
Authorities are concentrating their search in ZIP codes with high concentrations of warehousing and manufacturing.
A federal partnership with FEMA is bringing 21,000 new vaccine doses each week and a football field-sized tent.
The idea that the vaccine was rushed to the finish line is the largest factor in potentially keeping people away except for the 42.3% under 35 who said they trust no vaccine.
The surge in vaccines administered means about 21.2% of Shelby County residents have received at least one shot. That exceeds the overall state population (20.8%), a notable change from the when the county initially lagged behind Tennessee.
“As many doses as I have on hand, that’s how many appointments I will have next week,” said City of Memphis COO Doug McGowen.
Shelby County’s reproductive rate rose to 1 last week for the first time in 2021, indicating cases are again increasing, likely due to the highly contagious U.K. variant.
Cases of COVID-19 fell steadily in January and February. The plateau now is very likely due to the U.K. variant pulling the numbers up again, Dr. Manoj Jain says.
Due to glitches with the state’s VRAS vaccine signup program, Shelby County has reverted to SignUpGenius to schedule appointments, Mayor Jim Strickland announced.
From Feb. 27 through Saturday, Shelby County Health Department reported 82,037 total doses administered, with 55,920 people receiving their first dose and 26,117 more received their second vaccination.
To build capacity, the City of Memphis expects to run five or six fixed vaccination sites plus one or two pop-up locations in neighborhoods where access is an issue.
Shelby County’s likely survived the worst of COVID-19, though there are two caveats that could alter the trajectory, David Sweat, county health department deputy director, said Thursday.