The tool is designed to help people find a vaccination center near them in the state.

ATLANTA – Georgia added a new tool to help find COVID-19 vaccine providers when the state begins its next phase in the distribution plan.

The Georgian Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the agency has launched its own “COVID Vaccine Locator” that users can use to find vaccine providers in their communities.

Click here to access the tool

The agency stresses that this is not a central planning tool, but it does help find locations and contact information for providers.

The news came on the eve of Phase 1A + of the vaccine delivery process. This phase includes healthcare workers, residents and long-term care facility workers, adults 65 and over and their caregivers – law enforcement agencies, firefighters, 911 dispatchers, and first aiders as appropriate.

“Giving COVID-19 vaccines is more complicated than other popular vaccines like flu vaccines and requires providers to have more resources, including an area where people can be monitored for 15 minutes after vaccination,” DPH said in a statement. “Many vaccine providers are still vaccinating their own staff and patients and are not yet available to the public for vaccination.”

Governor Brian Kemp thanked healthcare workers for delivering more than 9,500 vaccinations at Metro Atlanta’s four bulk vaccination sites over the past week.

RELATED: Georgia vaccinations lag behind most states

Previous reports suggested that vaccinations in Georgia lagged behind other states. However, some experts say the initially slow rollout is not entirely the fault of states.

Dr. Carlos Del Rio told 11Alive that the delay in vaccine administration was due in part to the federal government pouring funds into developing the vaccine and leaving the distribution strategy to the states.

Meanwhile, the state said Pfizer and Moderna would ramp up production soon.

Currently, Georgia’s top health authority is asking the public to be patient as health organizations “work together to distribute the vaccine as efficiently and fairly as possible”.

Since the announcement of the state vaccine tracking tool, both Publix and Kroger have indicated that they have vaccines available for eligible customers. Vaccinations can be scheduled by appointment and set up online through any of their websites. Information on vaccinations at Publix is ​​available here. Information on Kroger vaccinations is available here.

Ingles is another supermarket that has limited vaccines. Ingles accepts registrations online.