Ellington

Thirty Walmart pharmacies across Mississippi will begin providing COVID-19 vaccinations next week, joining CVS and Walgreens in the Federal Pharmacy program. Gov. Tate Reeves announced the new addition at a Feb. 2 press briefing, stating that he is "hopeful that it will be helpful." The program is set to use 10% of vaccines the state receives next week, which would equal 4,000 to 5,000 doses, though a list of which Walmarts will offer vaccinations is yet public.

The program is meant to help alleviate racial disparities in vaccination administration, where data show only 17% of COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered to African Americans, although they make up nearly 40% of the state's population.

Reeves said the federal government is "tiptoeing" into the federal pharmacy program and that the addition of Walmart may not be enough to alleviate concerns of vaccine accessibility. "There aren't a lot of Walmarts in Issaquena County," Reeves said. "There aren't a lot of Walmarts in very rural areas."

The program is set to begin as the state, with about three million residents, passes 250,000 vaccinations administered to date. "We are operating at peak capacity," the governor said at yesterday's press briefing. Reeves called on the federal government to increase the supply of vaccines, as efficiency-based restrictions have endangered access to vaccines.

In addition, the Biden administration has scrambled in the past week to locate a reported 20 million COVID-19 vaccines that the Trump administration failed to track.

The Mississippi Department of Health reported 791 new COVID-19 cases today along with 26 deaths, while yesterday's report showed 825 cases and 76 deaths. The numbers are lower than previous averages, with State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs cautiously hopeful during yesterday's press briefing. "Although we're seeing a decline in cases, we still have a lot of stress within the hospital system," he said. "Intensive-care units are showing increased availability, but it's very tight, especially in certain areas."

Dobbs also noted that no new strains of coronavirus have thus far been detected in Mississippi, but said the State is looking into adding in-state detection equipment to its public-health laboratory. Currently, MSDH regularly sends off samples to the Centers for Disease Control to be tested for new COVID-19 variants.

So far, both vaccines available in Mississippi have shown excellent efficacy against new strains in terms of avoiding severe symptoms and hospitalizations, with respectable efficacy against mild to moderate symptoms.

Read the JFP's coverage of COVID-19 at jacksonfreepress.com/covid19. Get more details on preventive measures here. Email Reporting Fellow Julian Mills at [email protected].