MEMPHIS, Tennessee — When can we expect to get vaccinated? It's a question a lot of us are wondering.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Manoj Jain, a member of the Shelby County and Memphis Covid-19 Task Force, said it's hard to determine an exact date for when the Covid-19 vaccine will be available for the vast majority of Tennessee. There are specific groups of people who must get it first.
"We’ve got to get the healthcare workers vaccinated then we have to get to nursing home folks and certainly those with comorbidities," Jain said.
He said hopefully by the end of February a large number of people will have received the vaccine.
"We're looking at getting a bunch of folks maybe up to 30% vaccinated by end of February or early March," Jain said. "Then by early summer having the vaccine available for the general population."
The timeline is simply dependent on the supply and demand for the vaccine in the coming months.
"If people are not taking it amongst healthcare workers or amongst nursing homes then it becomes available sooner to others with comorbidities and for the general population," Jain said.
He explained phase one of the vaccine distribution in Tennessee will include three parts.
The vaccine will initially be distributed to healthcare workers, nursing homes, and first responders. The next part will include other healthcare workers, like those in doctor's offices. Finally, people with high-risk comorbidities, which are people over 65 years old with underlying conditions, will receive it.
Phase two will include critical infrastructures such as schools and childcare. People with moderate risk comorbidities over 65 and those in correctional facilities will also be offered the vaccine.
The third phase will include young adults and children.
Within the final phase, it will be available for the general population.
However, Jain said it won't be until early summer when the vaccine's impact will be felt in decreasing the number of cases.
"It will take a while for the vaccine to kick in," Jain said. "It will just not be able to kick in right now in order to decrease the number of cases."
Jain is predicting Shelby County will have 1,000 Covid-19 deaths by February. He said right now it's important to not let our guard down with the virus.