MARSHALL COUNTY, KY — The Marshall County Health Department has more than 3,000 people on a waiting list for the COVID-19 vaccine. The Kentucky Department for Public Health recently denied the department’s request for more doses, after it distributed 300 to people who qualify for phase 1A.
Marshall County Public Health Director Billy Pitts says the health department is inundated with phone calls from the community.
“We’re returning calls to everyone that we can, but with hundreds and hundreds of calls every day, it’s an impossibility,” Pitts said.
Marshall County Health Department Public Health Director Billy Pitts
Eighty-six-year-old Marshall County resident Jimmie Crowell is ready to get the vaccine so he can feel safer while dining out. Crowell understands it could be some time before the vaccine is made available to him.
“Just knowing that you can’t, or knowing that it’s dangerous to. Well I’ve got a little anxiety in here now,” Crowell said while eating out at Four Little Pigs BBQ in Benton.
Getting the vaccine to the 70 and older population is something Pitts wants to start on as soon as possible. He’s still waiting to hear from the state on when they could see more doses become available.
“Give us the inventory, and we’re ready. We’re going to get folks in, and we’re going to get them vaccinated, but without the inventory, we can’t do that. And it’s disappointing to us that we can’t,” Pitts said.
If they had more doses on hand, Pitts says he’d be able to bring in nursing students from Murray State University to help inoculate people. Pitts and other Public Health directors in Kentucky will take part in a Zoom call to discuss the vaccine distribution plan further with the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
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