Alabama’s overall COVID-19 transmission appears to be declining. However, the level of community transmission remains high in areas like Huntsville, Mobile, and Baldwin County. Jefferson and Tuscaloosa Counties are among the 14 spots listed as having substantial transmission. The positivity rate among Alabamians being tested for the coronavirus remains at just over 10 percent.
Wes Stubblefield with the Alabama Department of Public Health said that it may be a while until young children can get vaccinated.
“The earliest would probably be early April. The studies are still ongoing for the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in children from six months to four years," he said. "So far, the safety hasn’t been a concern but the efficacy has been suboptimal.”
Stubblefield said hospitals continue to be stressed by the pandemic.
“Hospitalization numbers have decreased along with all of the other numbers. However, our ICU bed availability is still very limited in our state with only about seven percent of our ICU beds available at this point,” he said.
Public health officials are carefully watching a new subvariant of omicron that could lead to another spike.
