ADPH Plans Mobile Vaccination Clinics For Black Belt Region
Alabama health officials are finalizing plans to deploy mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the state’s Black Belt communities.
During a media call Friday morning, state Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said he and other officials with the Alabama Department of Public Health were meeting later that day with representatives of the Alabama National Guard to discuss details.
The initial plan is to launch two mobile units with the capacity to administer 1,000 vaccine doses a day, four days a week. Members of the National Guard will operate the clinics, which Harris said could be up and running by March 23.
“This allows us to get to parts of the state where access to care is a problem, where transportation is a problem,” Harris said. “We are primarily thinking of this as a tool to reach more rural areas.”
As of this week, more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Alabama, which translates to about 13% of state residents having received at least one shot.
Gov. Kay Ivey extended the statewide face mask order Thursday, but said the mandate will expire on April 9.
Harris said residents must remain cautious even after the requirement ends.
“April 10th ought to look a lot like April 9th,” Harris said. “I think people ought to be careful. They ought to stay home if they can. They ought to wear masks if they go out. They ought to stay out of crowds. So we hope people won’t see the end of the mask mandate as just carte blanche to behave any way that they want.”
How Alabama’s first commuted death sentence this century came about
Robin "Rocky" Myers has been on Alabama’s death row for more than 30 years. Then, on February 28, he became the first Alabamian this century to have his death sentence commuted.
Steve Reich has always been to able to hear the pulse
The 88-year-old composer, who talks as fast as the interlocking phrases of his music, looks back on crucial moments in a career that moved minimalism into the mainstream.
There’s a lot to unpack in ‘Black Bag’ — a witty, sexy spy thriller
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play a high-ranking spy couple in Steven Soderbergh's new film. Black Bag offers Bond-style globe-trotting intrigue and marital dramedy.
Photos: Across the U.S., sky gazers marvel at the blood moon lunar eclipse
As the moon moved through the shadow of the Earth, it was also being illuminated by light from the sun — causing the moon to appear as if dipped in a deep red hue in a stunning celestial sight.
Hamas says it’s willing to release the five American hostages in Gaza
Hamas, the militant group the U.S. has labeled as terrorists, says it's willing to release the one living American hostage and bodies of four others it's held in Gaza since the 2023 attacks in Israel.
Dorothy Thompson: The journalist who warned us about Hitler
Dorothy Thompson saw the rise of Nazi Germany as a foreign correspondent in Berlin. A new series from Radio Diaries tells the story of Thompson's career as a radio broadcaster.
