Alabama health officials warn of vaccine scams

There have been reports of persons identifying themselves as public health nurses and saying they will administer COVID-19 vaccine at residences, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). At this time, ADPH does not administer COVID-19 vaccines in homes. If you receive unsolicited phone calls, emails or even visits from anyone claiming to be with ADPH and offering to do vaccines in your home, do not provide personal information or allow them to enter your home.

Federal law enforcement agencies and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have also issued warnings about vaccine scams.

Signs of potential scams would be if you’re asked to pay for a vaccine, to pay to get your name on a waiting list or to gain early access to vaccinations. You should disregard unsolicited advertisements for vaccines, including those seen on social media, as well as marketers offering to sell or ship doses of vaccine for payment.

Limited supply of vaccine is the greatest challenge for Alabama, according to ADPH. Multiple county health departments have no vaccine available.

Southeast Health in Dothan is one of eight large-scale sites participating in next week’s mass vaccination clinics. The plan is to do 1,000 vaccinations each day – 5,000 at each site for 40,000 vaccinations administered between Feb. 8 and Feb. 12 at sites around the state. Southeast Health has already filled all 5,000 of its available appointments.

There is no cost to receive a vaccine, but everyone vaccinated must be in an eligible group.

The eligibility criteria to receive the vaccine will be expanded on Feb. 8 to include persons age 65 and older along with critical and essential workers as identified in the state’s allocation plan.

Hospitals participating in the upcoming mass clinics have been working on their plans for the past week, including going through waiting lists to schedule appointments. Some hospitals have 5,000-10,000 or more people on waiting lists, according to ADPH.

The mass vaccination clinics, according to ADPH, are not replacing vaccinations occurring in other locations in those areas but are being held in addition to them.

Visit www.alcovidvaccine.gov to schedule available vaccine appointments, access a map of drive-thru and walk-in locations, and sign up to be notified as new priority groups are available to receive vaccine.