Health Department Receives Shipment of COVID-19 Vaccine, Announces First Phase Distribution Plan

HAMILTON COUNTY, TN – The Hamilton County Health Department confirms that on Tuesday, December 22^nd they received a shipment of 1,500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine with additional doses expected to arrive tomorrow. Moderna received Emergency Use Authorization approval on December 18^th to vaccinate adults 18 years of age and older and is a two dose regime given 28 days apart.

The Hamilton County Health Department will begin administering the vaccine to groups that qualify for Phase 1a1 as outlined by the State’s Vaccine Distribution Plan available at this link: https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/covid-19-vaccine-information.html#vaccine.

Phase 1a1 includes:

• Hospital Staff (Hospitals have already begun vaccinating their staff.)
• First Responders
• Staff working COVID-19 mass testing sites
• Home Health Care Staff
• Providers of Student Health Services (K-12 & Universities)
• Staff & Residents of Long Term Care Facilities
• Staff & Residents of Intellectually or Developmentally Disabled Facilities, Detention Centers, Department of Children’s Services, Rehabilitation & Psychiatric Hospitals

With their initial supply, the Health Department will open a Point of Dispensing (POD) clinic at the Tennessee Riverpark Hubert Fry Center, 4301 Amnicola Highway and begin vaccinating people in the 1a1 phase Wednesday December 23^rd & Saturday-Tuesday December 26-29^th from 9AM-5PM.

The Riverwalk will be closed to the general public for the duration of the operation from the Fishing Park boat ramp to the pedestrian bridge behind Chattanooga State, and all entrances to the Hubert Fry Center.

In addition to the PODs, several smaller teams of nurses and pharmacists will go to long-term care facilities and other places where non-ambulatory residents reside.

“We are excited to receive this first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines and begin administering them tomorrow morning,” says Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes. “Health Department staff look forward to serving the community through this historic effort.”

The Health Department expects to receive vaccine shipments intermittently. When they are ready to move to the next phase, as outlined by the State’s Plan, the Health Department will make an announcement.

“We are anxious to have vaccine readily available for the general public,” says Barnes, “but right now, the very limited number of doses we received are for the high priority groups. We still want everyone to be learning about these vaccines and hopefully make the decision to take them when they become available. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to continue doing what we know works—social distancing, wearing a mask in public, avoid gatherings, and handwashing.”

Holiday COVID-19 Testing Hours:

The Health Department will continue to offer free testing at the Alstom plant daily, 10:00AM-2:30PM, except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

For more information about COVID-19, call the Health Department’s hotline at (423) 209-8383, or visit their website at Health.HamiltonTN.org.

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