Tennessee could receive its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine in December, according to The Tennessee Journal.
The online publication that focuses on state politics spoke with Sen. Lamar Alexander, who said the vaccines could be distributed to 40,000 people in Tennessee as early as next month. Another 50,000 doses could follow in January.
At that rate, it would take more than 11 years to vaccinate Tennessee's population of 6.89 million (assuming everyone gets the two-shot vaccine, which I'm not willing to assume).
But there's an issue beyond the ultra-cold storage temperature with getting any of the two vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna distributed to anyone.
The main problem is issue the slowed Presidential Transition, said Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions Committee.
“You don’t want to lose a day or an hour getting those 40,000 doses to Tennesseans because the transition was sloppy,” Alexander told The Tennessee Journal.
And so far the transition has been very sloppy.
The article didn't state who would be in line for the first distribution. One thing I'm willing to assume is that front-line health care workers are likely to get vaccinated before you and me. I'll also assume that some of our politicians will cut in line to get the shots.