Georgia gets vaccine; may be months before available to general public
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As the year ends, the coronavirus cases in White County continue to rise.
As the year ends, the coronavirus cases in White County continue to rise.
White County has had 270 confirmed cases so far this month, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health report on Tuesday, Dec. 15. There were have been 1,605 total confirmed cases during the pandemic.
The county’s seven-day moving average was at its lowest point in months Oct. 27 at 1.3 new confirmed cases per day, but the moving average has risen most days since then to reach its highest seven-day average of 23.1 as of the Dec. 15 DPH update. That’s an increase from the 10.7 average on Nov. 28.
From Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, White County has had 505 confirmed cases reported to DPH. By comparison, the most cases the county has had in a single calendar month was 363 in September.
Of the 1,571 confirmed cases listed in a Dec. 13 DPH status report, White County Emergency Management Agency considered 860 as recovered. The agency’s weekly update considers a case to be a recovery 21 days after the case report is provided to the county. As of Dec. 15, DPH reported that there had been 28 deaths attributed to the coronavirus in White County.
Case counts have risen steadily for weeks, joined by renewed calls from health and safety officials for the public to remain vigilant in trying to stop the spread of the virus.
“We have been in a real critical time since about the middle of October up to present day. I would just stress to people to continue to do all the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] precautions,” said David Murphy, White County director of public safety and emergency management.
That includes social distancing of 6 feet of more, wearing a face mask when distancing isn’t possible and regular, thorough washing of hands.
“Don’t live in fear, but just live smart,” Murphy said.
Amid the growing case numbers in the state, Murphy said a positive note is that the current death rate is down from earlier in the pandemic.
“Even though we’re seeing more positive cases and higher transmission rates, the mortality rate is less than what would be expected for the amount of positives that we have.”
While case figures have risen, some relief in the fight against the coronavirus has emerged. Gov. Brian Kemp announced earlier this week that shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer were arriving in parts of Georgia, starting in the Coastal Health District. The Georgia Department of Public Health will be following recommendations to prioritize the limited initial supply of the vaccine for select groups.
“The first phase of the vaccine will be rolled out to long-term care facilities, such as our nursing homes and assisted living homes for the most-vulnerable populations, and also to our medical professionals – our doctors’ offices and hospitals – those folks who are consistently in direct contact with others who may have the virus,” Murphy said.
He told the White County News on Tuesday that he did not have a definitive time for when the vaccine would be administered in the county, though he surmised it might be available to the general public around late February or early March, subject to change with state operations.
“Everything, from what I’ve seen so far, that seems to be what time frame it would roll out to the general public,” he said. “How that rollout is going to be administered ... we haven’t gotten all the details on that.”
Murphy said officials had been advised to review vaccine dispensing points previously designated as part of a general pandemic response plan developed well before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.
“I’m glad to see that they’re actually going by what was written in the plans several years ago when we started planning for these things. All indications are we’re going to follow that plan.”
The White County School System weekly COVID-19 status report on Dec. 16 said there were currently 10 students who had reported positive for COVID-19 and 60 students quarantined for possible exposure at that time. At that time, there were five reports of staff members with a positive COVID-19 test, and five staff members quarantined for possible exposure.
The reported numbers reflect students and staff who are out on that particular day - in this case, Dec. 16 - because of either a positive test or exposure to somebody with COVID-19 and are not cumulative.