Vaccine access rapidly expanding
♦ Georgia will open a mass vaccination site at Lakepoint in Bartow County.
Buoyed by a surge in vaccine shipments, states and cities are rapidly expanding eligibility for COVID-19 shots to teachers and other groups as the U.S. races to beat back the virus and reopen businesses and schools.
Five more mass COVID-19 vaccine sites are set to open in Georgia later this month as teachers and school workers land on the eligibility list March 8, Gov. Brian Kemp said on Wednesday.
The additional vaccine sites add to four other locations that opened last month in metro Atlanta, Macon, Albany and Habersham County.
The new sites will open in Bartow County at the Lakepoint Sports Complex as well as in Savannah, Columbus, Waycross and Washington County.
The five new sites are scheduled to open on March 17 and administer a minimum of 20,000 doses each week with teachers, adults with behavioral and intellectual disabilities and parents of children with complex medical conditions first in line to receive shots.
“I feel like we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Kemp said at a news conference at the state Capitol.
Georgians can pre-register for a vaccine appointment at myvaccinegeorgia.com even if they do not yet qualify under the governor’s eligibility criteria. They will be notified once they qualify and scheduled for an appointment.
Despite Kemp’s optimism in the Wednesday press conference, the state is till struggling where vaccine distribution is concerned. Georgia is in last place among U.S. states in the pace of vaccination.
As of noon on Tuesday, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported, 3,067,745 vaccine doses have been delivered to the state of Georgia and 2,085,047 have been administered.
That leaves 982,698 unused, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. That quantity is also expected to receive a boost of 83,000 weekly doses from the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
That will bring Georgia’s weekly vaccine shipments to 223,000 doses starting next week.
While vaccine shipments remain somewhat sporadic, the availability has grown enough that local hospitals hold vaccination clinics and the Floyd County Health Department put a call out for those seeking to get vaccinated.
A few examples are:
♦ Redmond Regional Medical Center is hosting a community vaccination clinic this Friday. Appointments are required, said Redmond spokesperson Andrea Pitts, and there are limited appointments available. Those interested can call 706-3688222 or email redmondvaccine@hcahealthcare.com.
♦ Floyd Medical Center is partnering with Lovejoy Baptist Church this Saturday for a pop up vaccination clinic at the church at 436 Branham Ave. Registration isn’t required for the event taking place from noon to 4 p.m.
♦ The Floyd County Health Department sent out a release on Wednesday stating they have COVID-19 vaccine available, but little demand. Those eligible to receive the vaccine can call the health department at 706-295-6123 for an appointment this week.
The new vaccine sites and shipments come as COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations continue to drop after a spike over the winter holiday season.
Roughly 823,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Georgia as of Wednesday afternoon, with nearly 192,000 more reported positive antigen tests indicating likely positive results. The virus has killed 15,349 Georgians.
Some states lower age brackets
Arizona, Connecticut and Indiana have thrown open the line to the younger 55-andolder age bracket. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are reserving the first doses of the new one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson for teachers. And in Detroit, factory workers can get vaccinated starting this week, regardless of their age.
Up to now, the vaccination campaign against the scourge that has killed over a half-million Americans has concentrated mostly on health care workers and senior citizens.
Around the U.S., politicians and school administrators have been pushing hard in recent weeks to reopen classrooms to stop students from falling behind and to enable more parents to go back to work instead of supervising their children’s education. But teachers have resisted returning without getting vaccinated.
The U.S. has administered nearly 80 million shots in a vaccination drive now hitting its stride, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 20% of the nation’s adults, or close to 52 million people, have received at least one dose, and 10% have been fully inoculated.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. expects to have enough vaccine by the end of May for all adults, two months earlier than anticipated, though it is likely to take longer than that to administer those shots. He also pushed states to get at least one shot into the arms of teachers by the end of March and said the government will provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program.
In Wisconsin, teachers will get priority when the state receives its first shipment of about 48,000 doses of the J&J vaccine, health authorities said. Pennsylvania teachers will likewise be first in line when an expected 94,000 doses of the J&J formula arrive this week.
Giving the vaccine to teachers and other school staff “will help protect our communities. It’s going to take burdens off our parents and families. It’s going to make our schools get back to the business of teaching our kids,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced this week that educators, school staff and child care workers can now get shots.
And in Massachusetts, about 400,000 teachers, child care workers and school staff will be eligible to register for vaccinations starting March 11, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday, though he warned that it could take some time to book appointments because the supply remains limited.
Tennessee will open up vaccinations Monday to an estimated 1 million people over 16 who have high-risk health conditions and those in households with medically fragile children.
“This is a massive population,” Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said. “There are a lot of people who will qualify.”
The rush to vaccinate comes as many states, including Texas, Michigan, Mississippi and Louisiana, move to lift mask rules or otherwise ease restrictions on people and businesses, despite repeated warnings from public health officials that the U.S. is risking another lethal wave.
While deaths and newly confirmed infections have plummeted from their peaks in January, they are still running at high levels. The U.S. is averaging close to 2,000 deaths and 66,000 cases per day.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky encouraged Americans to “do the right thing” even if states lift their restrictions.
“Fatigue is winning and the exact measures we have taken to stop the pandemic are now too often being flagrantly ignored,” she said.