Richa Templin, an employee in the Jefferson County School District, received her dose at UAB.
Staring Monday, all Alabamians 16 years and older will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. That means roughly four million people in the state will be eligible.
“We believe that everyone ought to receive this vaccine. It’s the way that Alabama gets back to normal. It’s the way that we put all of this behind us,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said.
Federal regulators have given emergency authorization for three vaccines. Shots from Pfizer are available to those age 16 and up. Vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Jonson can be given to people 18 and older.
Appointments at some vaccine clinics have gone unfilled in recent days. Harris said it is not known how much of that is due to vaccine hesitancy or people unable to access clinics, for instance, because of a lack of transportation. He said the state has enough supply to meet the demand from this latest eligibility expansion.
“Tell your friends. Grab a neighbor,” Gov. Kay Ivey said at a mobile vaccine clinic in Wilcox County Friday morning. “Reach out to your loved ones and encourage them to join you in getting your COVID-19 vaccination.”
Alabama is among the last states to announce when it would expand eligibility to all 16 and older. Alabama remains near the bottom for vaccinations on a per capita basis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State health officials acknowledged Alabama was slow to roll out shots in December but said they are pleased with how efforts have gone since then.
On Thursday, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced it would begin voluntary vaccination of inmates on April 12. Previously, only prison system employees were eligible. Vaccines were given to inmates in one prison, Bullock Correctional Facility, on Wednesday after state health leaders offered the department doses that would have gone to waste if not used. They were left over from community clinics that saw fewer people last week due to severe weather.
As of Friday, state figures showed 1,765,351 shots given. Of that, 1,130,994 people — about 23% of Alabamians — have received one dose. About 13.5% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin introduced a $517 million budget proposal, the largest in city history, during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Starbucks stores in Birmingham and New Orleans could be the next to unionize. Those leading the efforts sit down to discuss why and what they've learned so far.
WBHM 90.3 FM is launching a podcast, “Deliberate Indifference: the story of Alabama’s prison crisis and the people inside it,” the product of reporter Mary Scott Hodgin’s in-depth research on Alabama’s prisons. The first episode will be available Wednesday, May 18. Listen at DeliberateIndifference.org or wherever podcasts are available.
A federal judge in Alabama ruled to block part of a law that makes it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to minors on Friday. Families with transgender kids tell WBHM they are cautiously relieved.
The law made it a felony to prescribe gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender minors. U.S. District Judge Liles Burke issued a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the medication ban, which took effect May 8, while a court challenge goes forward.
Jefferson County’s chief election official is warning that a new voting security measure will delay returns from the May 24 primary elections.
