Hospitals across Mississippi are assisting in the state's vaccination rollout and were the first to vaccinate healthcare workers in December. Since then, hospitals have begun to use allocations of doses to treat all qualifying Mississippians. Tim Moore, President of the Mississippi Hospital Association, says vaccines at rural hospitals are helping reach underserved Mississippians. "The more sites that you have, the more logistics that have to go into the distribution of that vaccine. But again, the transportation issues in the state of Mississippi, we're talking about an older, sicker population, so we need to get that vaccine as close to them as we possibly can, and get it in their arm as quick as we possibly can."
Vaccinations are being administered at 19 drive-thru locations, along with 144 hospitals and private clinics across the state.
Governor Tate Reeves announced Monday that only facilities that have used 65 percent of the doses sent from the Department of Health will get an additional shipment this week. "The vaccines that we don't send to sites that are falling behind, can be used to support sites that are efficiently getting the vaccine out. Whether it's our drive-thrus, or a hospital, or a clinic," says Reeves. "I don't care. As long as shots get in arms of Mississippians who want it, and who need it."
Governor Reeves says he's concerned that two-thirds of hospitals have used less than fifty percent of their allocated doses.
But Tim Moore says the Governor's data is not complete. He says most vaccines in hospitals are tied to vaccination appointments or future second doses. "I know that some of the hospitals that have vaccines are actually making phone calls to their patients and saying 'Look, you meet the criteria for the shot, would you like to schedule a time to come do it?' Others are making the community aware that they have shots available, and I saw an ad this morning that a hospital was making everybody aware that they had vaccinated and they were setting up fast-track clinics to move patients through there."
The Department of Health, Governor's Office, and the Hospital Association are working to improve vaccination reporting to track how doses are being used across the state.
