The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is pushing back against CDC claims that Alabama is the slowest state in the nation to administer COVID-19 vaccines.

Over the weekend, ADPH released a statement saying, “ADPH does not concur with data recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranking Alabama near the bottom in vaccine administration. ADPH, as part of its ongoing review of vaccine data, determined that some entities did not report complete information which meant that some doses administered were not included in CDC numbers.

This issue has been corrected, and providers are reminded that all doses of COVID-19 vaccine must be recorded in the system within 24 hours of administration.”

According to ADPH, 148,685 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alabama. So far, the state has received 370,575 doses of the 640,150 it’s been allocated. The number of allocated doses is less than what the state had been told to expect from the federal government.

“I am thankful so many Alabamians are willing and ready to get their COVID-19 vaccines. Please continue to be patient as we are in the very early stages of distribution. Dr. Harris and his team are continually working to more efficiently get this vaccine into the arms of Alabamians. Our current supply remains limited, but we are committed to vaccinating as many Alabamians as possible. We will get shots in the arm and off the shelf. In the meantime, be patient, wear your mask and practice good common sense. Let’s get this thing behind us.”

On Monday, the state began vaccinating individuals over the age of 75 and first responders. A hotline set up to schedule appointments has been overwhelmed and there are currently no appointments available at health departments, according to the ADPH website.

“The demand for COVID-19 vaccine continues to exceed supply as there are more than 326,000 health care workers and nearly 350,000 people in Alabama who qualify for a vaccine because they are 75 years old and older,” according to ADPH.

Cullman Regional Medical Center (CRMC) has also set up an online vaccine registration form at CullmanRegional.com/covidvaccine. “The hospital has received an overwhelming number of calls from the community regarding signing up for the vaccine,” said Lindsey Dossey, vice president of communications and marketing for CRMC. “We are excited about everyone’s enthusiasm to get the vaccine; however, we are having a hard time answering and returning everyone’s call in a timely fashion.”

The hospital will be vaccinating people by appointment-only three days a week. The vaccination clinic will administer between 250-300 vaccines per day. According to Dossey, as of Thursday, the hospital had administered more than 2,400 vaccines to medical staff, first responders and individuals over the age of 75. There are 2,400 people over the age of 75 on the hospital’s call list for vaccines and 8,000 people registered community-wide.