MEMPHIS, Tenn. — At sites across Shelby County Wednesday, lines of cars snaked around parking lots for the fortunate few eligible for either a first or final second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Still, Shelby County has barely scraped the surface of its local vaccine target goal, established by health experts.
They fear reaching that goal is still months - if not a year - away unless there's a major acceleration of doses and more staffed locations to administer those doses.
According to local and state data, approximately 10,000 people are now fully vaccinated in Shelby County. That's just a little more than 1% of the targeted goal of 650,000 vaccinated in Shelby County to achieve herd immunity from COVID-19.
"I hope it gets me a out a little more, feel a little more freer," Kay Turney said.
Turner made history Wednesday, with a new lease on life. She was among the first in Shelby County to be fully vaccinated at one of three sites set up by the Shelby County Health Department with its vaccine supply.
"It's very significant. I had to wait two hours. I waited not at all to get my first dose. So yeah, it's very important," Turner said.
"I hope that the county, bless them, will be faced with more complicating issues of distribution, that means there's more vaccines to distribute," Dr. Steve Threlkeld with Baptist Memorial Hospital said.
Dr. Threlkeld Wednesday was encouraged by the news that Shelby County is expecting between 3,000 and 6,000 additional weekly doses starting next week and through February. Still, he's concerned major top-down vaccine supply issues remain.
"It's been fairly haphazard of how those vaccines have been distributed from the factories, to the federal government, to the states, to Shelby County," Dr. Threlkeld said.
Another wildcard in speeding up Shelby County's vaccine process would be the potential approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires just one dose, not two.