The Football Capital of the South could soon be the COVID Vaccination Capital after the Birmingham Park Board voted unanimously today to approve measures to allow Legion Field to be used as a 24/7 COVID-19 vaccine distribution center.
City Council President William Parker said in a release that, as the country enters the next phase of the public health crisis, the priority for city leaders must be providing equitable access to vaccine distribution clinics.
In addition to Legion Field, Parker said he will continue working with the Park Board to open community centers and the Botanical Gardens as vaccine clinics as well.
Last week, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, began efforts to provide vaccinations at all hours of the day, beginning with first responders. Officials estimate that the site will be able to handle 250 to 500 people an hour, or potentially 6,000 to 12,000 vaccinations a day.
The goal is to have the Legion Field site open 24/7 for vaccine distribution, as the Biden Administration begins its efforts to distribute 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days he is in office.
“We want to make sure Legion Field remains on the front line of this fight. The trend around the country is to utilize large stadiums for vaccine distribution,” Parker said. “In addition to that, we want to make sure all of Birmingham’s 99 neighborhoods have access to vaccine clinics as we continue working with our federal partners to secure as many doses as possible.”
Legion Field has been operating as a testing site for COVID-19, in a partnership of Jefferson County Department of Health, the city of Birmingham and Clergy Concern for the Community. Testing is continuing at the site; vaccinations would expand that operation.
Many bills made it out before Monday's deadline. But the lawmakers also expect a special session later this year.
Lawmakers had a change of heart after decades of debate on the issue.
UAB announced this week it's closing the majority of its public COVID-19 vaccination sites because of a decline in participation. Meanwhile, Alabama remains at the bottom nationally for the number of adults that have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
A group of young civil rights activists began their journey to the South to challenge segregation on interstate buses in May 1961. The riders were taunted and beaten by white mobs – and jailed. Participants of the movement share what their fight means now.
Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama have the lowest vaccination rates nationally, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Health officials are considering creative incentives to get the numbers up from church events to possible beer giveaways.
Health officials say at first they were focused on vaccinating elderly and at-risk people in Alabama. Now the focus is shifting to people who are skeptical or apathetic about the vaccine.
