Mississippians quickly fill new virus vaccine appointments after Gov. Reeves makes announcement
Published 11:42 am Friday, January 29, 2021
Mississippi residents scrambled to book appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday that 15,000 new openings were available for the first of two doses.
Fifteen thousand new first dose appointments are available right now! Can access via https://t.co/AxGnAgTUeZ. Schedule now, because I am sure they will be booked quickly! Stay safe and God bless!
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) January 29, 2021
“I’m sure they will be booked quickly!” Reeves wrote on Twitter. “Stay safe and God bless!”
In just over two hours, all of the appointments were filled.
Laurie Bertram Roberts, who splits time between her home in Jackson and a job in Alabama, told The Associated Press she and one of her daughters went online Friday and booked vaccination appointments for themselves and six other family members.
Roberts said they managed to get appointments for five people in Jackson, where they live. But, they had to book one appointment in Vicksburg, which is about an hour’s drive one way, and two in Natchez, which is about a two-hour drive in one direction.
Roberts posted to Facebook: “Got my whole family registered for vaccine appointments and I feel like we got the Golden Ticket!”
Coronavirus vaccinations in Mississippi are currently available for people 65 and older, health care workers and those who are at least 16 and have health conditions that might make them more vulnerable to the virus.
Inoculations are being done at hospitals, community health centers, private clinics and at 19 state-run drive-thru sites.
Roberts, 42, said she and her relatives all have underlying medical conditions that could make them more vulnerable to the coronavirus. She said her family physician recommended in December that she and her children get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Roberts does advocacy work on a wide range of issues, including pushing to help people who live in poverty. Roberts said that before her family could afford vehicles just a few years ago, they would have had to make appointments only in Jackson, “and even getting to a drive-thru would have been difficult.”
“I understand the privilege of having two vehicles to go to these appointments,” Roberts told the AP.
People eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine can try to make an appointment at COVIDvaccine.umc.edu or by calling the COVID-19 call center at 1-877-978-6453.