STATE NEWS — Nothing stays static in any effort that involves local, regional, state, and federal officials and the effort to vaccinate Tennesseans against the COVID-19 virus is no exception. The Tennessee Department of Health announced changes to their COVID-19 Vaccination Plan last Friday. Currently, the state remains in risk-based phases 1a1 and 1a2, which includes health care workers, first responders, residents and staff of long term care facilities, and funeral personnel. Tennessee continues to only offer vaccinations to those 75 and older on a age-based criteria.

Here are a summary of the changes they announced on January 22:

1 | Parents of high-risk kids have been moved up. People living with medically fragile children have be added to Phase 1c of the state’s plan. State officials anticipate moving into Phase 1c in March or April. This group also includes persons ages 16 and older with high-risk comorbidities.

2 | Correctional officers and jailers have been added to risk based phase 1a1, meaning that all local Metro Moore County Jail staff can move to the front of the line. “These Tennesseans work in settings and roles that require frequent direct public exposure through close contact in confined spaces, placing them at high risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19,” according the the state’s press prelease. Residents inside correctional facilities remain in risk-based phase 3 and won’t be vaccinated until late summer or fall, according to the state’s plan.

3 | Moore County citizens aged 70 and older will be next. The state anticipates moving into the age-based criteria of those 70 and older toward the end of January or February. Currently, only Moore County citizens aged 75 and older can get of the Moore County waiting list for available vaccine.

4 | Vaccination now happen by appointment only. On January 11, the state moved to an appointment only vaccination system after the initial public vaccination dates were a bit of a debacle. {To read our full coverage of those issues, click here.} Moore County residents can now get on a vaccination waiting list online if you are age 75 or older or in phase 1a1 or 1a2. If you pre-register online and Moore County is not currently vaccinating your group, you’re preregistration will be kicked out. To get on the Moore County COVID-19 Waiting List, click here. If you need help determining if you are in one of the current phases, you can call the Moore County Health Department at 931-759-4251 or the state health department at 866-442-5301.

5 | State introduces a new COVID-19 dashboard. Last week, the state department of health introduced the Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination dashboard and it gets updated regularly with the total number of Tennesseans receiving vaccination. The latest update reports that 486,197 citizen in total have received vaccine including 110,759 vaccinated since January 17. Statewide, 5.79 percent of Tennessee 6.8 million citizens have received at least one dose of the vaccine. To view the new state dashboard, click here. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}