February 5, 2021 - Looking Up To West Virginia

Looking Up To West Virginia

February 5, 2021

I cannot begin to describe how discouraging it is to check the national tracking sources, day after day, only to find Alabama performing at or near the worst in virtually every metric that matters in this pandemic. Our State knows what excellence looks like. We see it every October Saturday on the gridiron. We take pride in the acknowledged excellence of our sons and daughters - Tim Cook, Gen. Lloyd Austin, Octavia Spencer. E.O. Wilson, Kaitlan Collins, Dr. Michael Saag. But when it comes to this pandemic - especially vaccine distribution - our State can’t keep up with West Virginia or New Mexico.

I’m sorry - but every so often, the frustration gets to me, and this is one of those days. The headline number of cases is actually pretty good today - 1,496 (incl. 416 probables) - but ADPH also reported 24,420 tests, which is four times the daily average. That’s a preposterous number. ADPH has experienced many computer glitches and data dumps in the last 10 months, invariably followed by corrections and rationalizations. So, although I don’t know what to make of this report, consider me skeptical.

Also, there were 89 deaths reported, bringing our overall death toll to 8,449. For the week, we suffered 18.2 deaths per 100K population. The national average was 6.9 per 100K. However, hospitalizations continued to improve - 1,671 in 108 reporting hospitals, or 15.5 patients per hospital.

The State’s updated vaccine dashboard says Alabama has now administered 413.3K of its 836.9K doses, or 49.4%. No other state has administered less than 50% of its doses. 3 states have administered more than 80% (including West Virginia and New Mexico). National trackers reflect that Alabama has given one dose to 7.2% of its population (48th) and both doses to 1.6% (tied for last). In contrast, 11.5% of West Virginia’s population has received one dose and 5.0% have received both doses. Our western neighbor, Mississippi, has administered one dose to 8.7% of its population and both doses to 1.7%.

State Health Officer Scott Harris told reporters that the federal government has begun sending 10,000 additional doses each week, on top of the state’s regular allotment. Next week, Harris has decided to allocate 74,325 weekly doses for 1st shots and 60,825 for 2nd shots. The State is opening up 8 mass vaccination sites next week, but most of the appointment slots are reserved for people getting 2nd shots. According to Dr. Harris, “We have spent more than a month giving people their first shots. It’s time for all those same exact people to come back and get their second shots, so it makes it difficult to add a lot of new people.”

Alabama’s slow rollout relative to other states also could be caused, in part, by the State’s greater difficulty vaccinating high priority individuals. For example, reports have circulated that upwards of 40-50% of individuals in some rural areas have refused to be vaccinated. Rather than moving on to people in lower priority categories, the State may be holding back doses in hopes of changing minds. “I think we know that there are plenty of people we have not yet reached in the 75 and up group, and so we will certainly continue to prioritize those people,” Dr. Harris said.

If it makes no sense to you to hold doses in storage, regardless of the reason, then you are not alone. Vaccine production is increasing with each passing day, so 2nd doses should become more plentiful as time goes by. Rather than giving one dose to as many vulnerable people as possible, as many experts have advocated, Alabama’s leadership seems content to do otherwise. Dr. Harris has expressed optimism that the State can begin vaccinating the general public by summer, but cautioned that “not everyone will be able to get their shot as quickly as they’d like.” The totals:

1/22 - 3551

1/23 - 3355

1/24 - 1728

1/25 - 1839

1/26 - 2900

1/27 - 3177

1/28 - 3648

1/29 - 2848

1/31 - 4057

2/2 - 2078

2/3 - 2118

2/4 - 2767

2/5 - 1496