Coronavirus Death Record Set As Georgia Ramps Up Vaccines
GEORGIA — Since the holidays, Georgia has continued to break its own records for case and death counts, and that has kept up for 2021. On Tuesday, the state set another record for its highest single-day death toll when officials confirmed 145 more deaths. This news comes on the heels of the Department of Public Health ramping up its coronavirus vaccine distribution across the state.
The state's previous recorded highest single-day death toll from the coronavirus was 125 deaths on Aug. 11, 2020.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 648,689 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Georgia also reported 10,444 deaths so far from COVID-19, with 145 more than reported Monday. In addition, the state reported 45,177 hospitalizations.
No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.
This comes on the heels of Georgia entering the next phase of coronavirus vaccine rollout. The health department is working on making it easier for the public to find a location, with its coronavirus vaccine locator. The tool allows users to search by county for a vaccine provider in their community, and it provides location and contact information for the provider.
Starting Monday, Georgia began the phase 1A+ of vaccine administration. That phase includes:
Health care workers: physicians, nurses, EMS personnel, laboratory technicians, environmental services
Residents and staff of long-term care facilities
Adults age 65 and older and their caregivers, as applicable
Law enforcement, firefighters, 911 dispatchers and first responders
On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp said that, over the last week, there has been a 97 percent increase in vaccine distribution. Additionally, he said he will work with pharmacies to ensure all local nursing home residents get the vaccine.
"These Georgians, as you know, are the most vulnerable to severe illness or death to this virus," Kemp said at a news conference. "It will continue to be our top priority to ensure significant progress is made in vaccinating our nursing home residents."
Kemp and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, health department commissioner, announced on New Year's Eve that the state would move into Phase 1A+ in the coming weeks, adding more groups of Georgians to the eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccinations.
County health departments and private providers, which are included in the locator, have become inundated with calls and requests for the vaccine, Kemp said. He has also been made aware of reports of large providers holding vaccines in reserve. If that continues, Kemp said, the state would take those vaccines back, even going so far as to say he will get in his pickup truck to get them back.
Kemp urged the public to remember certain restraints about the vaccine which may be causing a delay in more people getting vaccinated:
Georgia has 1.3 million seniors and 536,000 health care workers.
Georgia is allocated 120,000 vaccines per week, 40,000 of which are immediately withheld from the state and sent to CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate nursing home staff and residents through the federal program Operation Warp Speed.
That leaves 80,000 doses per week for vaccinating the 1A criteria, or roughly 11,500 doses per day. Over the last week, the state has been reporting that number, or more, every day in vaccines administered on the Department of Public Health dashboard.
"This means, we're not only using our daily allotment each day, but we are also catching providers up on reporting previous vaccine administrations," Kemp said. "That is certainly good news. We are working around the clock to get vaccines in arms as quickly and safely as we can."
In the first month of the vaccine distribution, Kemp said there will always be far more demand, even after the state strictly limited eligibility than it had supplies. The state has not received an update from Operation Warp Speed as to when it will increase the weekly allotment.
"The state is not producing the vaccine, or deciding how many vaccines are allocated," he said. "The number of vaccines administered is first and foremost dependent on the number of vaccines made available to us through the federal government and Operation Warp Speed.
"Yes, the phone lines will be busy. Yes, the websites certainly will crash. There simply are vastly more Georgians that want the vaccine than can get it today. This is no doubt frustrating. I'd prefer we have ample supply, and we could vaccinate everyone immediately. Unfortunately, that is simply not possible. However, I am encouraged by the obvious demand for the vaccine. Because as every reputable public official has said, this vaccine is safe and highly effective."
Additional locations statewide will be added when providers are ready to safely administer vaccine, and as vaccine supply allows. All health departments and most other providers require appointments for vaccine administration. Because vaccine supply is limited, providers may not have immediate appointments available.
Globally, more than 91 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, and more than 1.96 million people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday.
In the United States, more than 22.7 million people have been infected and more than 379,300 people have died from COVID-19 as of Tuesday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.
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This article originally appeared on the Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch
