Helen Keller Hospital still hasn't had a new shipment of coronavirus vaccines since January, but they're optimistic that will change soon.

Helen Keller Hospital president Kyle Buchanan said they have regular discussions with the state about vaccines, and they believe next week, they will get another shipment to the Shoals.

"The state is working with us very closely to make that happen," said Buchanan.

Buchanan said they have everything they need to vaccinate the thousands of people on their waiting list, but they're missing the key ingredient.

"The limiting factor at this point is vaccines. We have the staff available. We have great partnerships with space available throughout our community. We have all the infrastructure there to literally begin tomorrow, if we had the doses," said Buchanan.

Buchanan said President Joe Biden's goal of doses available to every American adult by May 1 is a big one to set but one they'd like to take on.

"It's going to take a lot of work, though. We need several hundreds of thousands of more doses to our state and several to our corner of the state to move in that direction," said Buchanan.

Buchanan said with the state opening up eligibility to those 55 and up, he expects their waitlist will grow to about 10,000 over the weekend. He said there are some milestones to celebrate.

On Friday, they had a total of five coronavirus patients, which is one of the lowest numbers they've seen since the pandemic started.