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COVID vaccine arriving in county

By DAVID MELSON - dmelson@t-g.com
Posted 12/17/20

COVID-19 vaccinations will begin in Bedford County next week – and just in time, considering a one-day record 137 new cases were reported locally in Tuesday’s Tennessee Department of Health report. “The Bedford County Health Department will begin rolling out the vaccine as early as next week,” Emergency Management Agency director Scott Johnson told Bedford County Commission’s Law Enforcement Committee on Tuesday...

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COVID vaccine arriving in county

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COVID-19 vaccinations will begin in Bedford County next week – and just in time, considering a one-day record 137 new cases were reported locally in Tuesday’s Tennessee Department of Health report.

“The Bedford County Health Department will begin rolling out the vaccine as early as next week,” Emergency Management Agency director Scott Johnson told Bedford County Commission’s Law Enforcement Committee on Tuesday.

The initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine are designated for health care workers and possibly first responders, said Johnson, who co-chairs Bedford County’s COVID response with County Mayor Chad Graham. Johnson expressed some concern fewer doses than expected for the first responders are being shipped.

Doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to arrive immediately after Christmas for law enforcement personnel and nursing home residents, Johnson said, with vaccinations likely becoming available to the general public in March. The shots will be available at the health department and other usual locations such as drug stores and doctors’ offices.

Other discussion at Tuesday’s Bedford County Commission committee meetings:

**Calm events

Two events were held at the horse racing facility on Anderton Road within the past month with few problems and only two service calls apiece, Sheriff Austin Swing told the Law Enforcement Committee.

Approximately 2,000 attended a race and concert Nov. 28. “Cars were in the parking lot and noise was at a minimum,” Swing said.

A smaller crowd attended a horse race with no concert, with both calls concerning a horse falling on a man, according to Swing.

Crowds resulting from horse racing and concerts at the property, which is zoned for agriculture and where events are allowed under a state agricultural tourism designation, have drawn controversy after a Bedford County woman was killed when hit head-on by an intoxicated driver on the wrong side of U.S. 231 North. That driver had been to an event at the center. Residents of the area have complained of noise and heavy traffic.

**Buildings

A proposed sale of the Bedford County Emergency Management Agency building on Railroad Avenue to Cooper Steel is not being recommended.

The Courthouse and Property Committee was told differences emerged during negotiations over the length of time EMA would be allowed to stay in the building following a sale and the removal costs of a radio tower. Cooper Steel’s Shelbyville location borders the EMA property.

•The Courthouse and Property Committee continues to study the possible sale of the old Central High/Harris Middle School gym on Elm Street.

The building is still wired for electricity, from transformers at the nearby Bedford County Schools maintenance building, but Commissioner Mark Thomas said the panels inside the building may be turned off. Water service to the building has been cut off for some time, Thomas said.

Non-critical documents and other county-owned items are stored in the 1954-vintage building, which has fallen into disrepair since Harris Middle School moved in 2006. Two offers have been made to purchase the buildings, committee members have been told in earlier meetings.

•The old Bedford County Workhouse building isn’t suitable or in a good enough location for law enforcement purposes, a study group told the committee.

A new workhouse would be better located near the new Bedford County Judicial Center, commissioners said.

**Dog walk

Bedford County Animal Control is proposing to build a dog walk next to the animal shelter on Lane Parkway. Additional fencing may be added pending further study.