DOTHAN, Ala. – Alabama ranks last in the nation for getting coronavirus shots into arms.
Its low ranking is tabulated by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. UAB reports Alabama has administered about 62% of the vaccines it has had delivered.
That puts it last among all 50 states, and among some territories, including Guam, The Republic of Palau and American Samoa.
The next lowest state is Mississippi, with nearly 64% of its delivered vaccines administered.
At the beginning of April, distribution was at an all time high. That is according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Since then, it has been on a decline. Doctors said this is concerning since herd immunity has not been reached yet.
Less than 21% of Alabamians are fully vaccinated.
“People have tended to make this decision on a little bit of what they know and a lot on what they don’t know,” Dr. Selwyn Vickers, Senior Vice President of Medicine at UAB, said.
In an effort to educate the community, HudsonAlpha has been hosting online seminars to discuss the pros and cons of the coronavirus vaccines available.
Dr. Vickers explained Monday night, it is more important to focus on the risks of the actual virus versus the vaccine.
“All of the studies that we’ve seen, that is well over a 100 million people given the vaccine, very few have had any significant side effects or had any significant major complications,” Vickers said.
This comes as pharmacies like Sparkman Pharmacy find themselves with more supply than demand.
Pharmacist Alan Watson attributes the slowdown to the 11-day halt on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, followed by new FDA warnings added to its vaccine fact sheet about the possibility of rare blood clots.
“We’ve had some patients, some that did want to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” Watson said. “However, there is definitely a lot of hesitancy out there.”
Another issue now emerging is people skipping out on the second dose of a two-dose vaccine. The CDC reports it is more than 5 million people.
Fortunately, Watson said it has not been a major issue with his patients, but he said it still happens.
“It is very important that patients do follow through with that second dose,” Watson said.
As more people become vaccinated, the more we learn. So far, Vickers said there has been promising data.
“We do know at six months, the two-shot vaccine, when you got both, is still above 90% efficacious,” Vickers said.
If you are still on edge about whether or not you want to get vaccinated, Watson said to give him a call and he will answer any questions you have.
“I encourage everybody out there to, you know, no matter what you see or what you hear, or who you talk to, definitely get vaccinated because we want to get back to living a normal life as quickly as we can,” Watson said.
