State expands to 1C vaccination phase

On that vaccine rollout expansion in alabama.

A week from this monday -- the state says it will be doubling the number of people who will be eligible to recieve a vaccine against covid-19.

That's when people in group 1-c will join the eligiblity pool.

Waay 31's will robinson-smith joins us live in studio... he explains why the state is making this move now and how it will impact the vaccine rollout.

Not only is the state expanding the eligibility of who can get a vaccine -- but there is also new information on where someone can get a vaccine.

The u-s department of health and human resources announced an expansion of federally qualified health centers that will now get a federal allotment of vaccine.

It jumped from just two in the state to now 14.

Those include the aids action coalition of huntsville as well as the northeast alabama health services in scottsboro.

Doctor scott harris also noted today that with the addition of the johnson and johnson vaccine -- the state was able to add an additional 131 locations last week that will get state allotments of vaccines.

With the coming expansion on march 22 -- dr. harris says there will be about 1.8 million people with chronic health conditions that will be eligible -- along with about 775- thousand people are in the "other essential workers" category.

Dr. harris notes that there is a fair amount of overlap in those categories and the ones that have been eligible.

He also encourages folks to consider how much they need to get a vaccine now -- depending on their circumstances.

You're certainly eligible to get the vaccine if you fall into that category, no one's going to turn you away.

If you're somebody who can stay at home and socially distance and you're not around other people, you're probably not really a high risk, even though you may be a certain age or have a certain health problem.

Dr. harris says in about a month or six weeks, there should be an adequate supply of vaccine.

He says the state has been trying to expand the provider network because they believe that people receive the best care from the places where they normally get their medication.

Dr. harris also says that based on some preliminary survey data -- about 30 percent of the state is still resistant to getting the vaccine.

He says that data helps them craft their messaging and determine how they will try to reach people who are most vulnerable to coronavirus.

Najahe?

Thanks, will.

The state is also working on publishing county-level vaccination data to the online dashboard.

That update is