MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The City of Memphis said Covid- 19 vaccines will be available at designated times without an appointment this week.
From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 8 to Sunday, April 11, Shelby County residents will be able to go to the FEMA vaccination site at the Pipkin Building to receive a shot without an appointment. The shots will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The location is currently distributing the first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The Pipkin Building was taken over Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency as a mass vaccination site with the ability to distribute 3,000 vaccines a day. Open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, the goal is to administer 21,000 shots a week.
On Thursday, reports began circulating that several doses were wasted at the site on Wednesday. In a series of tweets, the city of Memphis said those reports were not true. The Memphis Fire Department is in charge of vaccine distribution, and no doses were wasted Wednesday.
There are concerns that demand for the shot is on the decline. Only about 1,000 appointments were made. The site was also initially set to only administer first doses of the Pfizer vaccine for the first three weeks. That quickly changed to first and second doses once they realized slots weren’t filling up, WREG’s Quametra Wilborn reported Wednesday.
If you would like to schedule an appointment, call (901) 222-SHOT.
