Hamilton County officials confirmed on Thursday that a much more contagious variant of the coronavirus is spreading in the Chattanooga region, even as they offered the first detailed plans for a third vaccination site to open Friday, in Enterprise South Nature Park.
The province’s vaccination efforts are expanding to the third location as the number of cases continues to decline. The initiative comes after Mayor Jim Coppinger first confirmed the variant’s presence.
“You’ve heard a lot about variants across the county. We found that out here in Hamilton County,” Coppinger said during a live stream Thursday afternoon. This just means it is much more contagious [strain] of this virus. “
Coppinger told the Times Free Press after the live stream that he was referring to COVID-19 samples analyzed by Baylor School researchers, who presented their findings at this week’s COVID-19 Joint Task Force meeting.
Baylor school scientist Elizabeth Forrester said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed that several patients from the Chattanooga region whose samples had been sent to Baylor for testing were infected with the B117 variant, commonly referred to as the British variant.
B117 spreads more easily and faster than other variants, according to the CDC. Some reports from the UK indicate that B117 may be associated with an increased risk of death, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding.
The health department starts giving doses to those with appointments at 9 a.m. on Friday at Enterprise South.
Sabrina Novak, the health department’s director of administrative services, presented a map of the traffic flow through the park. People seeking doses drive the one-way road through a short loop in the park, which has a waiting area, a screening station, and a section of road where people can stop and wait to make sure there are no negative reactions to the vaccine.
“The great thing about the Enterprise South location is that even though we start with the small loop, we actually have the option to expand it to a medium route and a large route. So if at any point we want to increase the number of To increase agreements that go through this building, we have that flexibility to be able to do this, “said Novak.
On Wednesday, more than 59,000 vaccine doses had been given in Hamilton County, and the county had an average of about 850 new first-dose vaccines per day for the past week, according to data from the Hamilton County Health Department. Starting Monday, county residents aged 65 and older, as well as phase 1b workers, will be eligible for vaccines.
The decision to expand the age range and include daycare and kindergarten workers, as well as elementary and school teachers, will add tens of thousands to the eligible pool as provincial officials continue to say vaccine supply is limited.
Coppinger said on Thursday that the goal is to have 80% of Hamilton County vaccinated and asked residents to talk to people they know who might be hesitant about getting a dose.
Contact Elizabeth Fite at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @ecfite. Contact Wyatt Massey at [email protected] or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @ news4mass.