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On Friday, the Alabama Department of Public Health and Gov. Kay Ivey announced phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccinations. Since then, EAMC has been taking appointments for residents of Lee, Chambers and Macon Counties that are 75 years old or older, as well as first responders, including law enforcement and firefighters. The first appointment date for statewide distribution of phase two is Jan. 18.

Nearly 350,000 people in the state of Alabama would qualify for a vaccine at 75 years old and older.

To schedule an appointment for the free COVID-19 vaccination, individuals may call the ADPH toll-free phone number at 1-855-566-5333. Telephone calls are answered from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. seven days a week. Forms are also available on the EAMC website at https://apps.eamc.org/Secure/VaccineRegistration?fbclid=IwAR2pzfh1nYWai0aK8v5O6jzjkOVSmfFVJmymInHTimj_qBWBTzZsGjhREAw.

A driver’s license or a picture ID is required at the vaccination site.

Since there is a limited number of vaccines available at this time, EAMC said it may take a couple of days before patients receive a call about an appointment.

As of Jan. 9, there have been more than 40,000 COVID-19 vaccines (22,228 Pfizer vaccines and 19,550 Moderna) administered around the state, according to Alabama Department of Public Health.

Chambers County was recently designated as a high-risk county last week by ADPH. In the last 14 days, the county has had 424 positive COVID-19 cases. In the past three days, there have been 58 new cases. According to the APDH website, there was only one new case on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, there are 3,076 patients that are hospitalized in the state. At the EAMC campuses, there are 88 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, which is tied for the second-most since November.