Oklahoma County expected to be site of mega POD for COVID-19 vaccination, offici…

HOLD, FOR ALL OF YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT OF LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOR YOUR MITIGATION OF THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 IN SUCH AN AMAZING WAY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. GOOD MORNING, OKLAHOMA COUNTY. I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WE ARE STILL IN PHASE TWO OF THE STATE’S VACCINE PLAN, AND ARE WORKING TO VACCINATE THE MOST VULNERABLE TO COVID-19, OUR SENIORS WHO ARE 65 AND OLDER. WE HAVE MADE CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS. OKLAHOMA IS CURRENTLY IN THE TOP 10 IN THE NATION AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE VACCINE. THAT IS BALANCING BETWEEN BACK-AND-FORTH BETWEEN NUMBER SEVEN AND NUMBER EIGHT. IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY, WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN HELPING OUR STATE REACH THAT HIGH RANKING. IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY, WE HAVE VACCINATED 12.2% OF OUR ADULT POPULATION, WHICH INCLUDES HEALTH-CARE CARE WORKERS, FIRST RESPONDERS, AND INDIVIDUALS FIX TO FIVE AND OLDER. THAT’S 1.5 PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE STATE AVERAGE, AND THE COUNTY HAS VACCINATED 36.8% OF THIS AGE GROUP COMPARD TO 34% FOR THE REST OF THE STAGE. OKLAHOMA COUNTY ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN ONE IN FIVE, OR 21 POINT 7%, OF THE TOTAL VACCINATIONS IN THE STATE. THE COUNTY ACCOUNTS FOR 19.1% OF THE TOTAL VACCINES ADMINISTERED TO RESIDENTS AGE 65 YEARS AND OLDER. IN JUST EIGHT WEEKS, WE HAVE VACCINATED OVER 100,000 INDIVIDUALS HERE IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY. THAT’S A TREMENDOUS ACCOMPLISHMENT AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE IMPACT MAYOR HOLT MENTIONED, WITH NEW CASE COUNTS BEGINNING TO FALL AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR HOSPITALIZATIONS STARTIN TO DECLINE FINALLY. THERE IS STILL SO MUCH MORE WORK TO BE DONE. IT IS OUR GOAL AND DESIRE AND PLEASURE TO VACCINATE EVERY PERSON THAT WANTS A VACCINE. WE NEED THE VACCINE TO BE ABLE TO DO SO. UNFORTUNATELY, WE CONTINUE TO RECEIVE LESS VACCINE THEN WE ARE CAPABLE OF ADMINISTERING. WHILE OKLAHOMA COUNTY HAS APPROXIMATELY 21% OF THE POPULATION OF THE STATE, WE ARE RECEIVING AN AVERAGE OF APPROXIMATELY 14% TO 18% OF THE STATE’S VACCINE ALLOTMENT. IT’S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE OKLAHOMA STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IS CURRENTLY WORKING TO REMEDY THIS SITUATION, AND FOR THAT I AM VERY GRATEFUL. THE DEMAND IS THERE FOR WHICH WE ARE ALSO VERY THANKFUL, HOWEVER, THE SUPPLY IS SIMPLY NOTCH. FOR THOSE OKLAHOMA COUNTY RESIDENTS WHO ARE STILL WAITING ON A VACCINE, PLEASE KNOW, DISSEMINATING THE VACCINE AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE IT, THAT IS OUR GOAL AND THAT IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN ACCOMPLISHING. SO MUCH SO THAT WE HAVE BEGUN PODS, OUR POINTS OF DISTRIBUTION , LITERALLY AWAITING THE VACCINE TO COMPLETE THE DAY. WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT OKLAHOMA COUNTY HOPES TO BE A FUTURE SITE OF A MEGA POD, WHICH OUR LARGE-SCALE PODS ARE BEING SET UP…