MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thanks to a request from the Memphis and Shelby County mayors, you could be next in line to get vaccinated against COVID, no matter your age or job.
Mayor Jim Strickland and Mayor Lee Harris have gone to the state with the request to let all people in Shelby County get the vaccine, regardless of age or profession.
“I think it’s awesome! The more people that can get vaccinated, the better,” Christina Hernandez said, who was getting her vaccine Friday.
“Different age brackets and all that stuff. Just give it to everybody. Everybody walking around like ‘I don’t know if I got it. Do I have it?’” said David Pratcher as he wrapped up getting his COVID shot at the Pipkin Building.
But WREG has learned there is a bigger reason for the move.
Dr. Jeff Warren sits on the COVID-19 task force, and he says the number of new more aggressive variant cases popping up in Shelby County makes this move crucial.
The Shelby County Health Department says it has detected approximately 100 variant cases of COVID.
“It seems that the people who are spreading this variant are gonna be our younger people. So, the more of those we can get vaccinated, the more rapidly we vaccinate them, the lower we are gonna see this next piece occur,” Warren said.
He says the variant now in other countries has been growing in Shelby County too, and getting everyone vaccinated is a preventative step.
“What we are hoping to do is to try to get ahead of the people who are gonna be most likely to spread it and give them the chance to get vaccinated,” said Warren.
The request comes as Shelby County, with 17.8% of its residents vaccinated, lags behind other large Tennessee counties, whose vaccination rates range from 20% to 22%.
Warren says the last four-week push on vaccinations, the opening of more pop up sites, and opening up the vaccine to everyone will help increase the vaccination numbers.
“You want to stop it from spreading to the rest of the state, let us start vaccinating the people most likely to get it and spread it,” Warren said.
