On Monday, January 11, 2021, the Georgian Ministry of Health expanded the COVID-19 vaccine in Phase 1a + to new populations, including adults 65 and over and first responders, including law enforcement agencies and firefighters.1 In Phase 1a, only health care was originally prioritized Workers and residents as well as employees of long-term care facilities. Despite the expansion, vaccine administration remains limited in Phase 1. As of January 8, 2021, Georgia reported that only 167,057 of the 654,500 vaccinations sent and a total of 615,225 vaccinations assigned had been administered in Georgia
Vaccinations are only given through closed distribution points, including but not limited to public health clinics and hospitals.3 By January 8, 2021, Georgia reported that 1,481 vendors had signed up to deliver the vaccine.4 Most of the county’s health departments are in Georgia registered as a COVID-19 vaccine provider. The Commissioner of the Georgian Ministry of Health, Dr. med. However, Kathleen Toomey, MPH, warned: “[d]Different areas of the state complete phase 1a at different times, depending on the number of healthcare workers and [long-term care facility] Residents and employees who need to vaccinate them. “5 As a result, many counties continue to vaccinate frontline health workers before expanding vaccination to other populations.
In addition, like most other providers, the health authorities only plan vaccines by appointment. On January 10, 2021, Cobb County6 was working to open an online enrollment for people 65 and older, but was experiencing difficulties. Online vaccine registrations were available in Fulton County, 7 DeKalb Counties, 8 and Gwinnett County9 and are regularly updated as new dates become available. The Georgia Department of Health has launched an online tool, Find a COVID Vaccination Site, to help the public find vaccine providers in their communities
[1] Ga. Dept. Pub. Health, COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Plan, https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-plan.
[2] Ga. Dept. Pub. Health, Georgia COVID-19 Vaccine Status Dashboard (January 8, 2021), https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine.
[3] Vaccination schedule for COVID-19 in Georgia, https://dph.georgia.gov/document/document/georgia-covid-19-vaccine-plan/download.
[4] Ga. Dept. Pub. Health, Georgia COVID-19 Vaccine Status Dashboard (January 8, 2021), https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine.
[5] Ga. Dept. Pub. Health, more Georgians are eligible for COVID-19 vaccine, December 30, 2020, https://dph.georgia.gov/press-releases/2020-12-30/more-georgians-become-eligible-receive- Covid19 vaccination .
[6] See https://www.cobbanddouglaspublichealth.com/covid-vaccine/.
[7] See https://fultoncountyboh.jotform.com/210075657162049.
[8] See https://www.dekalbhealth.net/covid-19-vaccine/.
[9] See https://www.gnrhealth.com/covid-vaccine-scheduling/.
[10] Ga. Dept. Pub. Health, find a Covid vaccination center, https://dph.georgia.gov/locations/covid-vaccination-site.
