Alabama vaccine distribution worst in the nation Updated Jan 17, 2021; Today’s guest columnist is Frank McPhillips. When a deadly pandemic collides with exponential growth, the result is frightening. We have reached that point in Alabama, and we must speed up the distribution of vaccines. During October, roughly 30,000 Alabamians contracted COVID-19. By November, the number rose to 42,500 in one month. In December, the number of cases more than doubled to 111,000. And, January’s cases are rising even faster than December’s. As of this writing (January 12), more than 400,000 Alabamians have contracted the virus since the first official case on March 12, and the death toll stands at 5,347. It’s not easy to comprehend the magnitude of 400,000 cases. That is virtually equivalent to every man, woman and child living in Mobile County, our second most populous county. No other state with our population has witnessed nearly so many cases.