U.S. hospital intensive care units in many parts of the country are straining to handle record numbers of COVID-19 patients. These hospital units take care of the sickest of the sick. Some are running out of space and supplies while scrambling to pay the soaring rates of temporary traveling nurses. Hundreds of ICUs are struggling at the same time, with…
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Birmingham VA Health Care System is expanding its ability to vaccinate veterans against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, provided it can get enough doses of the vaccine. A partnership with the United Way of Central Alabama will allow the agency to provide as many as 1,000 shots a day beginning Monday to veterans who are…
The City of Montgomery and Montgomery County have announced that they, along with the Alabama Department of Public Health, will hold an 1A+ COVID-19 vaccination clinic. The clinic will be held Saturday, January 30, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Montgomery Fire/Rescue Station 9, 3003 E South Blvd. Phase 1A+ vaccination recipients include people 75 years old and up,…
The Alabama Department of Public Health’s updated vaccine dashboard shows that 223,000 people have received the COVID-19 vaccine in the state so far. For the week ending January 22, more than half received the Moderna vaccine (shown in blue) as compared to those receiving the Pfizer vaccine (shown in purple). The dashboard shows that about 502,000 doses have been delivered…
Alabama’s state health officer says supply issues have been the biggest hinderance to vaccination efforts in the state so far. Dr. Scott Harris told reporters Friday the state is trying to give out shots as quickly as possible. But he says it’s hindered by the size and number of shipments coming to the state. Alabama has approved more than 883…
The Alabama Department of Public Health has released an updated school dashboard of coronavirus cases for January 22. This is the second weekly report of the year. Overall, there are 2,155 COVID-19 cases involving Alabama’s public schools for this week. That is down from 3,071 last week. The dashboard doesn’t specify whether the cases involve students, teachers or other school…
Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced today that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted December unemployment rate is 3.9%, down from November’s rate of 4.4%, and above December 2019’s rate of 2.7%. December’s rate represents 87,534 unemployed persons, compared to 100,374 in November and 61,530 in December 2019. “This is the lowest unemployment rate Alabama has seen since the pandemic began,…
The NFL says 7,500 health care workers vaccinated for the coronavirus will be given free tickets to next month’s Super Bowl to be played in Tampa, Florida. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also said that attendance at the Feb. 7 game would be limited to those workers and about 14,500 other fans. Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,…
The outlook on COVID-19 in Alabama has not gotten any better since last summer, it has worsened. At one point last week, 1561 of Alabama’s 1600 ICU beds was occupied, leaving only 61 open ICU beds across the whole state. After Christmas and New Year holidays coronavirus numbers were higher than every, and the state now has a 7 day…
On Thursday, January 21, Governor Kay Ivey announced she will extend the mandatory mask order. The mask order will be extended until March 5. Health officials urged Governor Ivey to extend the mask order that was set to expire Friday, January 22. July 15, 2020 is when the mask order was first implemented. Alabama this week began making vaccines available to…
