Josh Peterson

The Tennessee Department of Health will provide data on COVID-19 vaccines administered in the state via a new dashboard to be provided online at www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/covid-19-vaccine-information.html. This dashboard launched Dec. 18 and will be updated each Tuesday and Friday.

Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting dashboard will include data on total vaccinations reported, vaccinations reported in the last day and within the last week. The dashboard will also display the percentage of each county’s population that has been vaccinated. The first reports shared via this dashboard will reflect Tennesseans who have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Future versions will also provide data on Tennesseans who have been fully vaccinated with both their first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

“We are eager to offer this tool to track our progress in implementing Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan and making this important preventive measure available to Tennesseans in every county of our state,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP.

TDH continues to provide daily COVID-19 data reports and will publish these reports by 5 p.m. Central time daily effective on Friday, Dec. 18.

Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan was last updated Dec. 2 and will be modified as more is learned about the vaccines Tennessee will receive. The plan is available online at www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccination_Plan.pdf.

Tennessee’s local health departments continue to offer COVID-19 testing five days a week at no charge to those wishing to be tested. TDH testing sites across the state will employ self-testing kits for adults three days a week beginning December 21, to allow staff members to transition to vaccination of frontline health care providers and first responders. Find testing hours and contact information for TDH health department testing sites online at https://covid19.tn.gov/testing-sites/.

The mission of the Tennessee Department of Health is to protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. Learn more about TDH services and programs at www.tn.gov/health.

Coffee County now has 808 active cases of COVID-19 virus according to data provided by Tennessee Department of Health on Sunday.

There have now been 56 virus-related deaths in Coffee County.

There are currently 2,893 people hospitalized with the virus across the state. Across the state, 16% of floor beds remain available, while 10 percent of ICU beds are available. There are 72% of adult ventilators available.

Students at Coffee County Middle School were able to donate a large quantity of toys to less fortunate children for the holiday season.

Students gathered toys and presented them to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department last week. The department coordinated delivery of the toys to the area Toys for Tots program.

Sheriff’s investigators in Grundy County are working a case involving two men who allegedly scammed a senior citizen.

This was not a telephone or internet scam – this was done in person.

According to the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department, two men in a white truck approached a senior citizen about doing linoleum work. Once these men got into the house, one man had a conversation with the lady while the other man went through the house taking items.

These men are described as follows: the first man is described as between 6’0” and 6’3”, 150 pounds, wearing a green coat and jeans. The second individual is described as 5’11” and 185 pounds, wearing a ball cap, faded pink plaid shirt, blue jeans and black boots.

Anyone with information about these two individuals is encouraged to contact Grundy County Sheriff’s Department captain Larry Sims at 931-692-3466 ext. 5.

The Tennessee Department of Health Thursday announced the state expects to receive its first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on or around Dec. 21.

Tennessee expects to receive an initial allocation of a total of 115,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine over the next two weeks, following Emergency Use Authorization issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and recommendations released by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine should be shipped for delivery Dec. 21 to all 95 Tennessee county health departments. Smaller hospitals that are not receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are expected to receive Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 28.

Unity Medical Center in Manchester did not receive Pfizer vaccine. Officials at Unity told Thunder Radio News that they are working to confirm if they will indeed receive Moderna vaccine during this first shipment. 

The FDA announced Wednesday that vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which are labeled as containing five doses, may include enough of the vaccine to provide six or possibly seven doses. FDA has announced these additional doses may be used, meaning Tennessee may have as many as 11,000 more doses of this vaccine to provide than originally expected.

“We are excited to receive these additional vaccines and see our COVID-19 vaccination activities underway,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. “Tennessee county health department staff members will administer the Moderna vaccine to first responders, home health care providers and student health care providers in partnership with these organizations and their local community emergency management agencies.”

Initial supplies of the COVID-19 vaccines are limited. The first allocations of both the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in Tennessee will be used to provide first vaccine doses to individuals qualifying for Phase 1a1, as detailed in the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for Tennessee. It is important to note these Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are not interchangeable; each patient must receive two doses of the same vaccine to be protected against COVID-19. Those who choose to receive the vaccine will receive a card with the date of their first dose, the name/manufacturer of the vaccine received and the date on which they should receive their second dose.

“Tennessee’s plan for allocation of COVID-19 vaccine has been thoughtfully developed with a focus on how best to serve our diverse populations and communities, and to ensure distribution of vaccination sites across all 95 counties, especially in rural areas and those with high concentrations of people in vulnerable populations,” Piercey said.

Tennessee’s COVID-19 vaccination plan was last updated Dec. 2 and will be modified as more is learned about the vaccines Tennessee will receive.

Tennessee’s local health departments continue to offer COVID-19 testing five days a week at no charge to those wishing to be tested. TDH testing sites across the state will employ self-testing kits for adults three days a week beginning Dec. 21, to allow staff members to transition to vaccination of frontline health care providers and first responders. Find testing hours and contact information for TDH health department testing sites online at https://covid19.tn.gov/testing-sites/.

Unemployment across Tennessee decreased significantly in November 2020 according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

Tennessee’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November is 5.3%, a 2 percentage point drop from October’s revised rate of 7.3%. The new statistic is just 2 percentage points higher than the state’s unemployment rate one year ago in November.

The current rate is also 2 percentage points higher than it was in March 2020, just one month before the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Tennessee. In April, Tennessee’s unemployment reached its all-time high of 15.5%.

Total nonfarm employment increased by 2,100 jobs between October and November. The manufacturing sector recorded the largest number of new hires for the month, followed by the trade/transportation/utilities and mining/logging/construction sectors.

When comparing year-to-year statistics, Tennessee’s employment decreased by 112,800 jobs between November 2019 and November 2020. Leisure/hospitality continues to be the hardest hit sector across the state. The manufacturing and government sectors have also experienced significant job loss when compared to 2019.

TDLWD has produced a complete economic analysis of the November 2020 unemployment data which is available here (https://www.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=166478db53c066a7d114ea462&id=ae7d90a236&e=29851e7b63) .

While seasonally adjusted unemployment was down nationally in November, the nation did not see the improvement in its jobless rate Tennessee experienced. The United States unemployment rate for the month decreased to 6.7%, down 0.2 of a percentage point from October’s revised rate of 6.9%.

Tennessee employers continue to help the state’s economy rebound and are searching for employees of all skill levels.

Currently, on the state’s workforce development website, Jobs4TN.gov, job seekers can find more than 240,000 open positions in a wide range of occupations and skill levels.

The state also recently launched the Tennessee Virtual American Job Center (VAJC). The new website is located at www.TNVirtualAJC.com. It allows Tennesseans to research different programs, from different state agencies, that can help them remove barriers to employment, so they can more easily reenter Tennessee’s workforce. The VAJC allows job seekers to do this on their schedule, anytime, anywhere.

In Coffee County, 306 people are currently receiving unemployment benefits related to COVID-19 Pandemic.