Tennessee now ranks near the bottom of all states in percentage of residents who have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine after weather delays and a series of vaccine handling mishaps at the Shelby County Health Department.
Tennessee lags every state in the nation at sequencing coronavirus variants - a scientific discipline that's key to understanding and fighting new strains of the virus that are coming online, and a weakness that's not likely to help as the U.K. variant was confirmed in Hamilton County this week.
Plans for Enterprise South vaccinations are revealed as more contagious mutation is identified
The decision to expand Hamilton County's COVID-19 vaccine effort to include teachers and people age 65 and older next week makes tens of thousands more people eligible for the shots, despite existing demand remaining high.
The winter weather gripping the nation is complicating COVID-19 vaccination efforts across the Chattanooga region, causing shipping delays and forcing some local health departments to cancel appointments on Tuesday.
State launches new online appointment system
The pace of the COVID-19 vaccine campaign is improving across the Chattanooga region. Supplies are steadily increasing, lines are moving faster and more doses are going into arms. Yet confusion and demand that far exceeds supply haven't waned.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga began routine, random COVID-19 testing for staff and students this week in an effort to detect and isolate infected individuals who could otherwise unknowingly spread the coronavirus.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee touted the state's newly approved Medicaid program as a victory in his State of the State Address on Monday, while at the same time acknowledging its uncertain future under the new Biden administration.
As Chattanooga hospitals were ramping up to care for an anticipated surge of coronavirus patients last spring, they were doing so without a critical part of their workforce.
