Collierville and Germantown staff, along with Shelby County Health Department, opened the suburban site on Tuesday, the first one operating outside of Memphis. The Germantown Baptist Church location is for second doses only.

Final walk throughs were taking place Monday as the county prepares for the first vaccination site outside Memphis.

People are asked to not come hours early and have proof of their appointment, but the lines were long once again at the Pipkin Building on Thursday.

Appointments at big-box stores will be made through the Health Department.

Capacity at Pipkin doubled Wednesday; late in the day, the lines were running smoothly.

The County Commission Scorecard tracks how a seven-month-old police reform proposal moved from being one vote short of the seven necessary for final approval to 10 votes across party lines this week. 

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.

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

With no discussion, Shelby County commissioners approved Monday, Jan. 25, a resolution that forbids the county from renaming any of its property, roads, bridges or buildings in honor of former President Donald Trump.

Shelby County commissioners agree that the tax incentives, the most potent part of the local economic development arsenal, need to be discussed. The conversation Monday was about how to shape the discussion so that it doesn’t go the way of past conversations about PILOTs.

The ordinance allows the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency and Homeland Security to acquire some surplus military hardware for protection and natural disasters. But most military hardware offered by the federal government requires a majority vote of the commission.

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

The Monday County Commission meeting includes a possible six-month moratorium on new PILOTs. And there is a compromise with Sheriff Floyd Bonner that would rewrite the ordinance requiring him to get approval from the commission to acquire surplus military hardware from the federal government.

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.

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.

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.”

The resolutions were discussed as commissioners watched the presidential inauguration while working through committee agendas. The full commission votes on the matters Monday.

Sawyer wants to examine the ground rules for awarding the most-used tax incentive in Memphis economic development and the results of past or ongoing PILOTs.

No businesses are specifically closed under the new directive, but restrictions remain and individuals are asked to play larger role in tamping down community transmission.

In a brief special meeting Wednesday, Jan. 20, Shelby County commissioners approved a $300,000 transfer of funds to pay legal expenses in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Nearly 1,000 people in Shelby County due second doses could start receiving them in the last week of January.

The deaths of individuals who tested positive for coronavirus during the past two weeks have risen by more than 23%, from 925 to 1,140.

Lakeland officials say they understand the seriousness of the virus, but want better collaboration with the Health Department.

Haushalter: “We are scheduled to receive 8,900 doses in one week; only a portion is coming to public health. We do not have sufficient supply. We have sufficient resources and manpower.”