District hits vaccine milestone

by Wayne Hardy, White County News, and Beau Evans, Capitol Beat News Service

COVID-19 vaccines continue to rollout in White County as Georgia expands its list of those eligible to receive the shot.

The District 2 Public Health office announced that it’s 13 county health departments – including White County – had recently reached the milestone of more than 100,000 doses administered. The total was at 100,567 as of Saturday, March 14.

The Health District stated its health department’s in total have administered a weekly average of more than 11,000 doses over the past eight weeks as availability of the vaccine improved, following an initially limited supply.

“We have a committed group of public health employees who have persevered through COVID-19 testing and vaccination while continuing to deliver services to our communities. With the vaccination effort, we expanded our full-and-part-time workforce, partnered with nursing programs in our area, and deployed our volunteer base to make this possible,” said Dr. Zach Taylor, District health director. “Having long-term relationships with our educational institutions, a volunteer organization in place, and partners in other agencies and organizations makes this achievement a shared community effort.”

The Georgia Department of Public Health Vaccine Distribution Dashboard’s March 15 report showed 6,905 vaccines had been administered in White County. That number was prior to the Health Department’s last mass vaccination event held Tuesday, March 16, at The Bridge Church in Cleveland.

The White County School System hosted a vaccination clinic at the middle school on March 11 for all of its teachers and staff. No classes were held as the day was declared a professional development day.

“The COVID vaccine administration was a huge success,” said School Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett. “So many people were excited about the opportunity to receive a vaccination.”

She did not have a specific number of school staff who received vaccines but though more than 200 were distributed.

“[It was] very much a community effort with our local health department, our local Emergency Management and CERT team members, and our school system working together,” Burkett said. “Four of our school nurses helped give the vaccination. I think it put many of our staff members at ease when they walked in the gym and saw a familiar face.”

Meanwhile, the state continues to expand rules on who can receive vaccines.

Judges and court staff in Georgia became eligible for COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday, March 17, amid a large boost in dose shipments from the federal government that kicked in this week.

The addition of Johnson & Johnson-brand vaccines has helped roughly double the weekly allocation sent to Georgia from 228,000 doses in recent weeks to 458,000 doses, Gov. Brian Kemp said at a news conference Tuesday.

Widening eligibility to judges and court staff comes as state officials eye opening up COVID-19 vaccines to all Georgians, potentially as soon as early next month.

“We are getting closer to that day,” Kemp said. “So I still feel very good about that timeline.

“As we get more vaccines, we’re going to open up this sucker to everybody.”

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.

Along with judges and court staff, Georgia’s vaccine eligibility list currently includes all residents ages 55 and older, healthcare workers, nursing home residents and staff, first responders and people with physical, mental and behavioral health conditions.

State data shows roughly 2.7 million vaccines have been given in Georgia so far, though Kemp said that figure does not include about 250,000 doses that officials have identified as administered but that have not yet been reported by local providers.

The governor urged everyone to schedule appointments for the vaccine so that enough Georgians will have immunity to effectively halt the virus’s spread.

“Vaccination is our ticket back to normalcy,” Kemp said. “The more people who are vaccinated, the more lives are saved and the quicker we get back to our normal way of life.”

COVID-19 activity in White County

Source: Georgia Department of Public Health March 16 status report

• 2,881 total confirmed cases during pandemic

• 7-day moving average of cases

• 1.6 daily case average as of March 16

• Up from 0.7 on March 9

• Recent: 4 on March 2 and 4.4 on Feb. 23

• 20 cases reported this month through March 16

• February had 182, January had 659, with December’s 688 being the highest count yet

• 63 deaths attributed to COVID-19 during pandemic

• White County School System: Its weekly status report released March 17 said there were currently no students who had reported positive for COVID-19 or quarantined for possible exposure at that time. There were no reports of staff members currently with a positive COVID-19 test and one staff member was quarantined for possible exposure.

Checking on vaccine availability 

Providers advise checking for appointments. Information on providers throughout the state is available at dph.georgia.gov.

• White County Health Department and District 2 Public Health

Eligible residents can make appointments by calling 1-888-426-5073, visiting www.phdistrict2.org or by calling the White County Health Department at 706-865-2191.

• MedLink Georgia – White County

Call 706-521-3113.

• Cleveland Drug Company

Call 706-219-2626.

• Ingles Pharmacy

Visit www.ingles-markets.com/vaccinations

• Northeast Georgia Health System / Northeast Georgia Physicians Group

Visit www.nghs.com/covid-19/vaccine-updates

• Habersham Medical Center

Call 1-855-990-HELP (4357) and select Option 2.

• GEMA/HS Mass Vaccination Site – Clarkesville

Register online at MyVaccineGeorgia.com. Vaccines are administered by appointment only at the Habersham County Fairgrounds (4235 Toccoa Highway) in Clarkesville.

• Walgreens Pharmacy – Check and register online at www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19

• Walmart Pharmacy – Online scheduler at www.walmart.com/cp/1228302