The state will start vaccination of people over 70 years old with COVID-19 | COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) (# Add parentheses on first appearance if there is no character limit

COVID-19 vaccination in Tennessee has been opened to a slightly larger age group.

If you are over 70 years old, you can make an appointment for vaccination. The Tennessee Department of Health announced on Monday afternoon that the state has increased vaccination quotas and allowed more age groups to be vaccinated.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, 70-74 people can start vaccination appointments on Tuesday. Previously, vaccines were available to people over the age of 75 in the dose distribution of each state age group.

The Ministry of Health estimates that there are about 300,000 Tennessees in groups aged 70-74. The Ministry of Health announced that the ability to expand access to the vaccine to this group is due to the state being assigned an additional dose of 93,000.

Locally, the Ministry of Health provides vaccinations at the former Green Valley Development Center site on the East Andrew Johnson Highway.To register for an appointment, please visit covid19.tn.gov Please call the website or 866-442-5301.

The increased eligibility for vaccination has come from the declining number of new cases locally in the last few weeks.

However, deaths continue to increase locally as the state reports six new deaths from the virus in Green County on Monday. Ballad Health officials point out that deaths in the area may not begin to decline for another few weeks due to the course of the virus and the surge that occurred before and after the holidays. On average, people require hospitalization for the virus 10 or 11 days after the onset of symptoms, and patients can be hospitalized for several weeks.

In Green County, Monday’s daily COVID-19 update from the State Department reported 10 new cases, in addition to 6 new deaths.

The state reports that the new deaths have brought the total number of people killed by the virus to 127 in Green County. Since March last year, a total of 6,893 people have been infected with the virus locally.

According to state reports, the number of individuals with active cases of the virus on Monday was 245. No new local hospitalizations have been reported.

Ballad Health reported that there were 127 COVID-19 patients in the hospital on Monday, an increase of 7 from the weekend. In addition, seven individuals were hospitalized on Monday with viral symptoms awaiting test results. Of the COVID-19 patients, 22 were in the intensive care unit and 16 were on ventilator.

According to Ballad Health’s daily COVID-19 scorecard, the positive rate for the last seven days in the region has been stable at 17%. According to the state, the positive rate for Green County over the past seven days was 9.1%.

The positive rate indicates the spread of the virus within the area. Authorities pointed out that a positive rate of less than 5% indicates that the spread of the virus is suppressed.

Tennessee’s COVID-19 vaccination program provides gradual vaccination to different risk groups based on occupation and health status, as well as gradual vaccination to age groups, with the highest risk of viral illness and death. Set up a framework for prioritizing higher groups.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, people aged 70-74 have a 70% higher COVID-19 mortality rate and a 40% higher hospitalization rate than people aged 65-69.

Tennessee has announced that as the supply of vaccines increases, Tennessee will move into the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

The state predicts that if vaccine supply continues to grow as expected, vaccination could be extended to people over the age of 65 in March.

According to the release notes, each county may proceed with vaccination at different times, depending on the supply and demand of vaccines.

Green County is currently in risk-based phases 1a1, 1a2, and 1b. These groups include hospital staff, first responders, care facility residents and staff, outpatient health care workers who are directly exposed to patients, funeral and morgue staff, kindergarten to high school education and childcare workers. It will be.

Last week, three local pharmacies were announced as new vaccination sites, but initially only in limited quantities, most of which were booked within hours. The new sites are Corley’s Pharmacy, Greene County Drug Store, and Corley’s Pharmacy Solutions, one of the 100 state-announced sites.

In addition to vaccination, the Ministry of Health remembers that it is important for Tennessees to wear face masks, maintain social distance, and be tested in the event of exposure or illness to control the pandemic. I recommend you.