MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County health officials said they expect to ramp up vaccination efforts even more in the coming days, as the state prepares to send out more doses.
This comes as the county moves on to another phase of vaccine eligibility and the number of Covid variant cases increase across the area.
During the Memphis/Shelby County Covid-19 Joint Task Force meeting Tuesday, City of Memphis COO Doug McGowen said they decided to move into Phase 3 of the vaccination campaign due to dwindling interest and numerous appointment slots still being available. Next week, all adults over the age of 16 will be allowed to get the vaccine, in an effort to get as many shots into arms as possible.
To date, McGowen said the vaccine campaign has been a success. They have worked through all the inventory they have had on hand and expect an uptick in vaccines doses from state the first week of April.
As always, new vaccine appointments will be made available every Friday around noon at covid19.memphistn.gov.
During the task force meeting, health officials also confirmed that they have seen an increase in the variant strains, especially the one from the UK.