Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee denies that Shelby County is getting less than its share of COVID-19 vaccine, and he sent a letter to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland Wednesday, Jan. 27, saying so.

As people wait hours for their vaccine appointment time, they end up leaving without a shot in the arm and a head full of frustration.

The Shelby County Health Department reported around 220 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, but the number of deaths reported today was much higher than yesterday’s. 

Health Department is sending emails to some turned away saying vaccine was available and apologizing for error.

Thousands of extra COVID-19 vaccine doses are headed to Shelby County from the state and Centers for Disease Control.

The standby list is not first come, first served as it still needs to follow the state priority list. 

Shelby County’s reported coronavirus total is now 80,991 cases, including 74,905 inactive cases (recoveries), 4,884 active cases and 1,202 deaths. 

There were only 221 newly reported coronavirus cases on Tuesday, but those cases came from just 2,257 tests.

After receiving a text, people would have four hours to get to a vaccination site.

The Health Department reported about 415 new coronavirus cases Monday, Jan. 25. 

Second COVID-19 vaccination dose is available only at Appling site this week.

The Landers Center is replacing the DeSoto County Health Department as a vaccination site.

Dr. Jon McCullers, a Memphis infectious disease expert, says greater ‘central control’ was needed at both the federal and state levels for a more effective response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The health department reported five additional deaths among people who tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 1,187 people in Shelby County have died who had the virus. The number of Tennesseans who tested positive and died is 8,859.

From Jan. 9 to Saturday, the Health Department reported an average of 482 new cases and 4,054 test results a day yielding an 11.9% positivity rate.

The 537 COVID-19 cases reported Saturday resulted from 5,804 tests, yielding a 9.3% positivity rate.

The emergency-use therapy is available for people who test positive and who could become severely ill due to age or underlying conditions.

Those who received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine can begin making appointments for a second dose starting at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 25.

The 337 cases come from 4,172 tests, giving the day a positivity rate of 8.1%.

Bartlett’s coronavirus vaccination rate is the second lowest in Shelby County, according to data from the Memphis-Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force. Only Memphis (2,163.7) has a lower vaccination rate.

On “Behind The Headlines,” Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, and Dr. Jon McCullers of UTHSC said multiple plans to vaccinate more than 600,000 people in Shelby County are ready to be used and adjusted to roll with the circumstances.

Anonymous donors are willing to fund the operation of a Universal Parenting Place, if they can find a qualified site operator. 

Nurses and physicians will check in daily; vitals will be monitored around the clock and meals will be delivered.

The new president also is seeking to expand testing and vaccine availability, with the goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.

“We want to remind people that we saw that it was necessary to change the health directive in response to changes we are seeing in the data,” Dr. Bruce Randolph said. “We are making progress. There is a downward trend in a lot of our metrics.”