Gwinnett health officials see surge in vaccine demand

Only a day after Gov. Brian Kemp expanded the eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccines, the Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale County Health Departments filled thousands of appointments within two hours of opening them on Thursday, said Audrey Arona, district health director of the department.

Filling 14,000 vaccine slots last week, Arona expects the department to begin vaccinating even more individuals. As of Friday morning, the department had scheduled about 18,000 appointments for both first and second doses next week, said Chad Wasdin, communications director of the GNR Health Departments.

Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday announced he is widening the vaccine program to Georgians as young as 55 and others with high-risk medical conditions. The change makes another 3.3 million in the state eligible for a shot beginning Monday.

Arona’s staff is vaccinating about 2,000 people each day across the three-county district, hoping to increase that number as the department receives more vaccine doses by the end of the month.

“The limiting factor this whole time has been the amount of vaccine that our state has,” Arona said. “Our state has close to 2,200 — and maybe more than that now — providers that are ready, willing and able to distribute this vaccine, but only half of those have received the vaccine because of limited supply.”

The GNR Health Departments increased its website’s bandwidth in anticipation of a surge in sign-ups. Like most health departments across metro Atlanta, it encountered website bottlenecks and crashes in January as vaccine slots first started to open.

In anticipation of more vaccine doses, the department has gradually increased its staff, Arona said. Vaccinating individuals at the former Sears store in Gwinnett Place Mall, staff could handle up to 3,000 people each day at this location, assuming an increase in vaccine supply.

The health department provides just a small slice of the total vaccine supply available in the county. Pharmacies, grocery stores and doctor’s offices in Gwinnett County are also providing vaccines, and eligible persons can also make use of the state-sanctioned mass vaccination sites located across Georgia.

“Even though that’s so frustrating to the community not to be able to find one, I’m so thrilled there’s such a demand for the vaccine,” Arona said. “That tells me that more and more Georgians really want the vaccine.”

While there’s no single scheduling system for finding a vaccine, Arona recommends people use the state’s vaccine finder to find a nearby location. The department is blocking off some appointments for seniors, working with senior service centers to vaccinate those without access to a computer, she said.

Even if the department receives more vaccine doses, Arona said she wants the public to continue to wear masks and social distance in the meantime. “We need everyone else to do their part in stopping the spread of this virus,” Arona said. “I’ve said this all year long: Every single COVID-19 death is preventable.”

Arona, along with other health officials, will give an update on the current state of COVID-19 in Gwinnett County during a virtual community health summit hosted by Gwinnett Cares and other county organizations 8-9:30 a.m. March 24. The public can register to join the event by video conference or stream it from Gwinnett Cares’ Facebook page.