NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Metro public health is expanding eligibility for the covid-19 vaccine.
Starting Monday in Davidson County, people aged 55 and older can sign up for their shot, along with those in phase 2a and 2b of the state’s rollout plans. Phases 2a and 2b include people working in “critical infrastructure,” like transportation, utilities, and social services.
This comes as Tennessee continues to lag behind most of the nation in vaccination rates.
Tennessee ranks third lowest in the country right now for vaccines administered per population, just ahead of Alabama and Georgia.
There are 2.1 million Tennesseans now vaccinated against covid-19. Mass vaccination events - and private partners - are helping to get more people protected against the virus.
“There are a lot of abilities to get vaccinated, I encourage anyone to sign up and get the vaccine,” Dr. Alex Jahangir said. Dr. Jahangir is Nashville’s Covid-19 Taskforce Chair.
He says the more vaccines in arms, the faster we can return to pre-pandemic activities.
“If you want to get back to normal, if you don’t want to die, if you don’t want to get super sick, get vaccinated,” he said.
The expanded eligibility is only for Nashville and Davidson county.
The Tennessee Department of Health, who oversees most counties in the state, says counties are free to progress to new phases based on their supply.
But the state hasn’t given the green light for all counties to advance to phase two quite yet.
TDH is expected to announce an update on the state’s vaccine rollout on Monday.