Weekly Update

Friends,

Since the end of February, our City team and partners have been working every day to grow our capacity to deliver vaccines and expand our reach to every corner of the county. In that time, we have delivered more than 350,000 vaccinations, and grown our capacity from under 20,000 vaccinations per week to administering more than 30,000. Equally as important, we have expanded the number of providers from just a few public PODs to more than 60 clinics, pharmacies, and health systems across Shelby County.

As we move into the holiday weekend, we are positioning ourselves for the next phase. Next week we will schedule more than 52,000 appointments at our public and community based PODs. That dramatic increase is thanks, in large part, to our new partnership with FEMA and TEMA, which will establish a very high-volume vaccination site at the Pipkin building. It will enable us to deliver 3,000 vaccines per day, seven days per week, 12 hours per day. That’s an additional 21,000 vaccinations per week over and above what we had been doing.

To schedule your appointment, please call (901) 222-SHOT or register online here.

Your Memphis Public Libraries: I’m extremely proud to say that recently the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced that Memphis Public Libraries (MPL) is among 30 finalists for the 2021 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate significant impact in their communities. MPL was selected for this recognition based, in part, due to their incredible service to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Award recipients will be announced later this summer, but I’m here to tell you, this nomination is already a win for our entire community.

While many institutions across the country have struggled to remain relevant during these unpreceded times, MPL employees have continuously adapted to meet community needs and fill critical gaps in services. This nomination is a direct reflection of this commitment to their customers, partner agencies, and the City.

From collaborating with the Memphis Shelby County Joint COVID-19 task force to produce health and safety content through its in-house television station (WYPL) to creating protocols for curbside pick-up and facility safety, delivering meals to vulnerable residents through MIFA, conducting contact tracing with the Shelby County Health Department, and producing a robust continuum of digital programming—MPL continued to deliver much needed services in ways never thought possible.

To support MPL and celebrate this honor, we are asking you to share your Library stories and photos on social media and include the hashtags #IMLSmedals and #shareyourMPLstory. IMLS will spotlight MPL on April 20th, and they will share some of your posts that day. Congratulations again Director Keenon McCloy, to all MPL staff, volunteers, and the various support organizations.

The Champs: This past weekend our own University of Memphis Tigers became the National Invitation Tournament 2021 champs. After a difficult year for all of us, this was very welcome hard-fought honor for the team and a great reason for our city to celebrate.

To the University, the coaching staff, and the team, I offer a heartfelt congratulations from a very proud fan.

Go Tigers Go!

An important message: Earlier this week, a teacher from Hickory Ridge Elementary made national news (again) for his exceptional connection with his students. He has created a unique handshake for each of them, which is great, but more importantly what it represents. The handshake is a daily reminder that each individual student is important in their own time and in their own way.

At the end of the news clip, Mr. Jamison leaves an invaluable message to all the students across the country. He reminds them that they are the generation that is going to change the world and to be unapologetically themselves.

Thanks for all you do and the example you set for your students, Mr. Jamison.

Have a great weekend!

Yours,