MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Monday marked a historic step in Shelby County's months long fight against COVID-19, as 800 firefighters, police officers and public health nurses were injected with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at two drive-thru locations.
Now comes the hard part, getting everyone else in line vaccinated across the next six months.
"That's really light at the end of the tunnel, we want to get at least 70% of our population vaccinated," Shelby County Health Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter said.
Following state guidance, the first priority groups include first responders and and staff at COVID-19 mass testing sites, home healthcare workers and those who work and live at long-term care & assisted living facilities.
Monday Spencer Wooten who lives in the Memphis assisted living center, Trezevant Manor and 160 others received the first available vaccines there.
"We really want to work closely with getting our nursing home partners vaccinated and residents of those facilities vaccinated because there have been clusters there and just by the nature of the facilities, they are at high risk for transmission," Dr. Haushalter said.
Once the priority groups are vaccinated in the coming weeks, the second priority groups will include primary care providers and staff and outpatient care providers, pharmacists, those in urgent care centers and dentists & dental hygienists.
"Our anticipated ability to offer vaccine to some members of the general public should be in January but again that's going to be dependent on how much vaccine we receive," Dr. Haushalter said.
As more shots go into arms, we also have a clearer picture of the specific jobs where Shelby County COVID-19 cases are most common.
Manufacturing and warehouse jobs make up nearly 23% of the infections to date, followed by 21% in health care and 11% in schools.
Local experts are also finalizing a list of 'fact vs. fiction' claims about the COVID-19 vaccine, to highlight its safety levels in trials and encourage the community get vaccinated in the coming months.