NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As surrounding Tennessee counties begin vaccinating people above the age of 75, Nashville is still busy vaccinating healthcare workers, first responders, and nursing home residents.
Brian Todd, a spokesperson for Metro Public Health, says they are vaccinating people as fast as they can, but are limited by how many vaccines they've received so far. "It’s really dependent on what we get, the amount we get, and when we get it," said Todd. "It’s going to take us longer because we have more people."
After Phase 1A1, Metro Nashville will then start to vaccinate people in Phase 1A2, which includes staff in primary care clinics, dental offices and funeral homes.
After that, Metro will be ready to vaccinate those over the age of 75. "We probably will start out fairly small, only because we probably won’t have enough vaccine to be able to spread it as far as we’d like to," said Todd.
Everyone will need to make an appointment through Metro Public Health, and they will turn anyone away who doesn't have one. There will be a website and phone number available to book those appointments.
"When we move to that phase, we will actually have two different ways of doing it. We will have a link that if someone wants to go on and fill out their information, that’s an option. Then we will also have a phone number to call," said Todd.
The hope is, Metro will receive larger shipments of the vaccine, which will make it possible to go get the immunization at your local pharmacy. However, that distribution could be months away. "We envision eventually getting to that point but I don’t know how long it will take to get from where we are right now, to that, where we’d really like to be," said Todd.
Metro Public Health is asking only Davidson County residents to sign up for a vaccine, but that won't be enforced.
As soon as we hear that Metro Public Health is ready to move forward with general public vaccinations for seniors, we'll be sure to let you know.
