More than a quarter-million Mississippians have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, and health officials say two additional vaccines could make the rollout easier. The AstraZeneca vaccine trial is nearing completion, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be approved by the FDA in two weeks according to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. He says he has not seen detailed data from the study but says publicly available information looks promising. “The benefits are gonna be; one dose, 85% protection from severe disease, but only 60% something protection for any disease,” says Dr. Dobbs. “So, there’s a trade-off between the one dose maximum efficacy we’ve seen in the other [vaccines]. We’ll have to sorta wait and see how that plays out, but I know a lot of people who are excited about the first dose.”
More than one-third of Mississippians age 75 and older have been vaccinated for the coronavirus, but health officials say that progress is slowing. Dr. Dobbs says the state’s vaccine scheduling hotline is being modified to make it easier for older residents to navigate the system. “So when you go to the call, It’ll say I think ‘Press one for general information, press two to schedule an appointment, press three to schedule an appointment if you are 75 years or older. So we can have a fast track,” says Dr. Dobbs.
Dr. Dobbs says the Department of Health is also creating new ways to get homebound residents vaccinated. He says additional coronavirus vaccine appointments should become available sometime Tuesday.
