COVID testing and vaccines will be a little harder to come by in Nashville starting in January.
On Tuesday, the Metro Public Health Department announced it would stop offering COVID boosters and testing at community events on Dec. 31, ceasing operations of the so-called “strike team” that has worked since mid-2020.
COVID vaccines will still be available at public health clinics by appointment, but the department is also discontinuing PCR testing entirely. At-home tests can be picked up at clinics.
“While COVID-19 is still a serious issue in our community, the response from the Metro Public Health Department will shift to mirror the way we respond to other serious, endemic illnesses,” Dr. Gill Wright, Metro health director, said in a written statement.
Metro is also done with publishing weekly COVID surveillance reports, though private providers will still be required to report cases. The city is also continuing wastewater surveillance that can give public health officials a sense of how much virus is in the community.
Some funding for these activities does expire in the new year, according to spokesperson Matthew Peters, though money is not being given as the primary reason for stepping back from community testing and vaccination. Nashville was one of the only jurisdictions left in the state offering COVID services so widely.
Even with cases beginning to surge across much of the country — along with other respiratory viruses — public officials are looking for ways to wind down pandemic-era policies. Gov. Bill Lee was among two dozen Republican governors this week who asked President Biden to end the Public Health Emergency, primarily because of the additional costs associated with running TennCare.
