A Message from Mayor Stimpson - February 5
Feb 5th, 2021
Good evening,
It is 8 p.m. on Friday, February 5, and I am writing to give you an update from the City of Mobile.
Today, the Mobile County Health Department reports 33,917 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 92 cases. To review the most recent detailed report, click here.
The Mobile County Health Department COVID-19 vaccination event at Belsaw Middle School in Mount Vernon has been rescheduled to Monday, February 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can find more vaccine events and other information about COVID-19 vaccines on the City of Mobile’s website.
Earlier this week, I announced that we were aiming to ramp up the number of daily COVID-19 vaccinations we’re able to provide at the Mobile Civic Center as part of our partnership with USA Health. Today I’m happy to report that we have met and exceeded our goal of 1,000 vaccinations. According to USA Health, their personnel at the Civic Center were able to vaccinate 1,002 people Thursday and were on target to administer nearly 1,100 vaccinations as I left the office this afternoon.
Under the leadership of Chief Nursing Officer Natalie Fox and Director of Clinical Resources Sarah Kahalley, this team is truly doing a fantastic job scheduling and administering vaccinations. By clicking here, you can sign up through USA Health’s website to be added to their queuing system. You’ll be contacted by USA Health to receive the vaccine as you become eligible under state health guidelines.
Today I had the honor of speaking at the graduation ceremony for the Mobile Police Department’s 65th Police Academy Class. Twenty-eight recruits were sworn in as police officers and they bring to the force a youth and diversity that will make our department stronger, smarter and better.
In every graduating class, MPD Cadets are asked to write down why they wanted to become police officers, and one cadet from today’s group said they felt “a calling” to get off the sidelines and start serving others because of all the things we see going on in the world today.
I also shared with the class an excerpt from a speech former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy gave recently about the connection between a community and its police officers. He said that we should always have high expectations for our officers because of the power they are given by virtue of their position. However, officers should also have high expectations of us — from the citizens they serve to our city leaders.
Our officers need to know they’re supported in our community. They also need the training, equipment and the leadership to be successful in their mission to serve and protect citizens. To the degree that I can influence those things, Mobile Police officers have that commitment from me.
We are fortunate to see capable, good-hearted men and women willing to join the ranks of the Mobile Police Department. But, as Gowdy said, too often the only times we hear about police officers is when something goes wrong. My challenge to Mobilians is to make sure our officers know they’re appreciated day in and day out. We have high expectations of them, but they should have high expectations of us too.
Sleep tight,