From Bob Horton
Assistant Commissioner
Outreach and Engagement
Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs
Alexander City, Ala. — Alabama’s four state veterans homes will receive the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations beginning Tuesday for approximately 468 residents and 850 staff members.
The first immunizations of the Pfizer vaccine will be administered to residents and staff at the Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City on Tuesday. Vaccinations will continue over the next two-weeks for the following homes:
Floyd E. ‘Tut’ Fann State Veterans Home, Dec. 31
William F. Green State Veterans Home, Jan. 7
Colonel Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home, Jan. 11
“For several weeks our health care team has worked with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) in scheduling the vaccinations for our veteran-residents and staff. Our medical staff at the state veterans homes is prepared to administer the first and subsequent rounds of the vaccine beginning tomorrow,” said Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis.
Residents and staff of long-term care facilities in Alabama are vaccinated through the Federal Pharmacy Program in cooperation with CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. The health care provider for the state veterans homes, Health Management Resources of Alabama, INC., has partnered with Walgreens to administer the Pfizer vaccine in two doses. Those two doses will be administered three weeks apart.
According to the CDC, the Pfizer vaccine’s side effect profile shows that some recipients had pain at the site of injection, headaches, fever, muscle aches and chills. The side effects were more noticeable with the second dose than the first dose and were reported to resolve over one to two days. In clinical trials, CDC reports the vaccine appeared to have high effectiveness.
In a Dec. 11 news release, FDC Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. said “the FDA’s authorization for emergency use of the first COVID-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the United States and around the world.”
The Alabama Department of Public Health is tracking immunizations by provider enrollment, mapping of locations of vaccination services, monitoring performance of the Alabama Immunization Information System, Immunization Patient Registry with Integrated Technology (ImmPRINT), and tracking of vaccine ordering and distribution.
