NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) —Tennessee health officials say they are ready to open mass vaccination sites at well-known spots like Dollywood or Nissan Stadium - there's just one big holdup.
"We just don’t have the product,” Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said during a call with reporters Friday.
Dr. Piercey says the department has the space, with places like Nissan Stadium and Dollywood stepping up, and the workforce to boot. But supply projected in Operation Warp Speed has not come through, officials say.
“If I had more vaccines, we would give them out faster, but we are still constrained by supply," Dr. Piercey said.
Not only is Tennessee receiving about 10,000 less doses per week than projected, a ramp-up in supply was slated to start next week, but "that's not the case." Dr. Piercey said she's now looking to the first week of February when the state might start seeing week over week increasing allocations.
“There are some really big levers that we can pull quickly, like in a day or two, like mass vaccinations, retail pharmacies," Dr. Piercey said, "Within a day or two I could deliver a 5x multiple. Within a week or two I could provide a 10x multiple. It’s just they don’t have the product.”