It’s becoming clearer who might receive the first coronavirus vaccines in Georgia, but county health departments are still working out the logistics of when the vaccines will arrive and how many can get it.
Georgia is expected to receive about 400,000 doses once emergency use authorizations are granted to vaccines developed by pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer, said Dr. Audrey Arona, health director for the Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments. Arona met virtually with Gwinnett legislators Tuesday night to update them about the pandemic.
Health care workers, long-term care facility residents and at-risk seniors are expected to be the first in Georgia to receive vaccines, Arona said. The state will determine how the vaccines are distributed to local health departments, and those departments will carry out the bulk of the initial vaccination effort, she said.
“Hopefully what will happen is that the part of our population that is most at risk of severe disease and dying will take the vaccine so that we can at least protect them,” Arona said. “From that point on, we’ll see what happens. I don’t know if we’re going to get to herd immunity. Hopefully we will, but if we don’t, if we can at least vaccinate those that are most severely at risk, I think we’ll do amazing.”
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Panel recommended Tuesday that medical workers at highest risk of contracting the virus and long-term care facility residents, like those in nursing homes, should be prioritized for vaccination nationwide. That recommendation must be approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield. Both vaccines are expected to receive emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration soon.
Vaccines could be administered to the public as early as two weeks from now, according to the CDC. The The Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Department is still scouting locations for possible vaccine sites, and it hasn’t been decided yet whether testing and vaccination could occur at the same location, spokesman Chad Wasdin said.
The biggest variable the health department’s vaccination plan relies on, though, is expected guidance from the CDC, FDA and Georgia Department of Public Health, Wasdin said. There was no timeframe given for that guidance, but it is expected within the next few weeks.
The Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Department has acquired a freezer cold enough for the Pfizer vaccine, Wasdin said, which must be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius, equal to minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
The department is also conducting an online survey to determine residents’ readiness to receive a vaccine. So far, more than half of the 7,300 respondents said they were likely or certain to take a vaccine when it’s available, Arona said. The survey will be open through Dec. 15, and Arona expects to receive about 15,000 responses.
State Rep-elect Rebecca Mitchell, a Snellville Democrat and an epidemiologist, criticized the survey for likely capturing too small a sample size to truly reflect the county. Arona conceded that the survey was not ideal, its primary purpose is to identify “barriers” to people’s willingness to get a vaccine. Knowing that will help the department work to break down those barriers, she said.
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