All Tennessee Adults Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccination By April 5

Photo Credit: Public Domain 

Published March 24, 2021 

Nashville, TN – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee today announced all Tennessee adults will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination no later than April 5. Tennesseans aged 55 and older and those in Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations effective Mar. 18. 

Governor Lee shared the announcement in a video: https://www.facebook.com/GovBillLee/videos/753448335309638.

By April 5, all Tennesseans age 16 and over will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Eligibility for those in Phase 3 of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan will run concurrently with age-based eligibility.

Phase 3 includes residents and staff members of congregate living facilities including college dormitories, group homes and shelters and those in the corrections system. Phase 3 also includes grocery store workers who were not eligible for vaccination based on previous age or risk-based categories. To help ensure vaccines are available to these populations, direct allocations of vaccines will be made to these facilities. 

Tennessee continues to see increasing supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, which allows the state to rapidly accelerate eligibility to receive the vaccination. TDH requests every dose of COVID-19 vaccine made available to the state: 

• 2.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to Tennessee providers to date 
• Expecting approximately 311,000 vaccine doses week of March 22 
• Expecting new allocations of Johnson and Johnson vaccine week of March 29, which will increase weekly supplies by 30 percent 

“As we’ve promised, we’re able to expand our COVID-19 vaccine eligibility as vaccine supplies have increased and we’ve made substantial progress in protecting those most at risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. “Tennessee will now open COVID-19 vaccination to all eligible adults well ahead of the federal goal of May 1.” 

Expanding COVID-19 Vaccination Eligibility –

Effective Mar. 18, Tennesseans aged 55 and older and those in Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan are eligible. Phase 2 includes those who work in settings that have experienced high numbers of COVID-19 infection clusters, and whose work is critical to continuing vital state operations. These groups include: 
• Child welfare and adult protective services agency workers with direct public exposure 
• Commercial food manufacturing workers 
• Commercial agriculture workers involved in production and safety of food supplies and commodities 
• Corrections system workers not previously covered under Phase 1a1 
• Public transit drivers and maintenance personnel 
• People working in other transportation, public infrastructure, telecommunications and utility industries 

Book Your Vaccination Appointment –
 

Find vaccination providers in your area by visiting VaccineFinder.org. Tennessee county health departments across the state currently have appointments available for COVID-19 vaccination. Book an appointment with your county health department at COVID19.tn.gov. Those who need help scheduling a COVID-19 vaccination appointment with their local health department may call the TDH vaccine support line at 866-442-5301. 
 

TDH reminds all Tennesseans that in addition to vaccination, wearing a face mask, maintaining social distance and getting tested when exposed or sick are critical to controlling the pandemic. 

Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan is available online at www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccination_Plan.pdf. Find answers to frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccination at https://covid19.tn.gov/data/faqs/.