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As Alabama receives more vaccines, more providers want to distribute them

The J&J vaccine approval means the ability to give more doses, but just as getting more vaccines is important, so is adding more places to get one.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The news of the J&J vaccine rolling out is huge and the state of Alabama will be receiving over 40 thousand doses by the end of the month.

"We do not have any Johnson and Johnson in the state of Alabama as of today but we are in the process of getting that vaccine distributed to our state, 40,100 doses. What we plan to do with this vaccine is to provide this to entities who are enrolled in ImmPRINT but have not previously been vaccine providers," said Dr. Karen Landers, Assistant State Health Officer 

Health care providers can enroll themselves in the health department's electronic system, called ImmPRINT, to become a place that can administer vaccines. 

RELATED: ADPH: Some pharmacies already have the COVID-19 vaccine available

"We currently have enrolled in the state of Alabama 1,147 providers in our electronic registry, our ImmPRINT system," said Landers. 

All providers must be registered in ImmPRINT, follow CDC's storage and handling guidelines, serve target populations, and enter administered vaccine data within 72 hours.

"Entities have to be enrolled in imprint in order to administer vaccine because we have to document the doses to the patients and we also have to document every dose back to the federal government," said Landers. 

RELATED: ADPH: More vaccination sites and vaccine will 'continue to spread the vaccine out among the entire state'

Adding more vaccine to the supply is crucial right now, but so is adding more places where people can receive the vaccine. This electronic system helps do that in an organized way. 

"We have over four hundred Moderna providers in the state, over 27 Pfizer providers in the state and now with the J&J, we will have a few more. So, we wanna get this vaccine out but at this point and time we are not able to expand the allocation of phases," said Landers. 

Although we are not currently moving to phase 1c, the rollout of the J&J vaccine and a large number of places interested in wanting to distribute them - may change that in the near future. 

If you are a healthcare provider, school, child care center, or pharmacy and want to enroll, send an email to: immprint@adph.state.al.us.

For the most up-to-date COVID vaccine information, check out the WZDX story: Alabama COVID vaccine updates

RELATED: J&J's one-dose vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization

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