FILE - In this May 4, 2020 photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the first patient enrolled in Pfizer's COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. 

Alabama’s statewide mask mandate has been extended through January, and it could be several months after that before the coronavirus vaccine is available to the average Alabamian, according to Gov. Kay Ivey and state health officer Dr. Scott Harris.

Harris and Ivey appeared Wednesday to provide an update on measures taken to reduce the spread and impact of COVID-19 on Alabama. Ivey said her safer-at-home order, which initially went into effect April 30, is now extended through Jan. 22, 2021.

Even though cases of the disease are on the rise, bringing with them rises in the number of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, Ivey maintained Alabamians are resilient and responsible enough that additional restrictions are unnecessary at this time.

“Let me be clear — since May, my team has never seriously considered another lockdown,” Ivey said. “… This is largely due to the personal responsibility of the people of Alabama, wearing a mask to keep themselves and others safe. In fact, the mask mandate remains the one stopgap in order to keep the balance in our daily lives.”

She continued to encourage patience and using “the common sense the good Lord gave you to be smart and considerate of others” as the pandemic continues. This includes wearing a facial covering when near members of a different household, maintaining a social distance of 6 feet in public whenever possible and avoiding large gatherings.

Vaccines

Harris said the state should receive 40,950 doses of the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer next week, pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Fifteen locations in Alabama with the capability to handle storing and distributing the vaccine will receive it soon after, he said, adding the list will be released to the public soon but “there’s not really a secret” that it will be larger hospitals in larger cities.

Front-line health care workers and longterm care facility residents are to receive the vaccine first, according to Harris. He advised distributors and employers to consider not just a person’s job title but other risk factors when determining who gets the vaccine.

The vaccine developed by Moderna is easier to store, and Harris said a similarly sized order has been placed and will be distributed to health departments, rural hospitals, community clinics and other doctor’s offices. He stressed that patients will not have to pay a copay or fee to receive either COVID-19 vaccine, though some doctors have the option of charging insurance companies an administrative fee for providing the vaccine.

Even with the thousands of doses being ordered, they are simply the first dose in a two-dose vaccine. Pfizer’s vaccine requires a second dose be administered three weeks later, while Moderna requires a second dose four weeks later.

Furthermore, there are millions of people in Alabama, and Harris only mentioned about 81,000 doses being ordered so far.

“There is going to be a scarcity of vaccine, and that will continue for a while, and we want people to understand that,” Harris said Wednesday. “There are going to be some people at the very tip-top of our list who are deserving but won’t get the vaccine on the first day.”

He said there will be more doses available in the spring, and “it’s likely to be early summer before we have enough for the average Alabamian to receive a vaccine.”

There will not be a statewide mandate requiring residents to get the vaccine, he said, but he recommended everyone get it once it is available.

Wednesday’s numbers

As of Wednesday, COVID-19 had been confirmed as the cause of death for 3,525 Alabamians and the probable cause of death for another 460. More than 280,000 cases have been reported since March 13 in Alabama, with 41,430 of those cases reported in the last two weeks.

“These are not backlogs or data dumps,” Harris said. “These are new cases for us. We’ve got almost 4,000 family and friends and loved ones who are not going to be there for the holidays.”

“If you have a 747 crash every month for the last 10 months, that’s how many we’ve lost,” he added.

Harris also noted that recent data shows 10% of COVID-19 patients end up hospitalized. In Limestone County, where 793 new cases were confirmed in the last two weeks, that’s almost 80 people needing treatment at a local hospital.

Limestone County has reported 48 confirmed or probable deaths from COVID-19 since March.