Infection rate slows as vaccine numbers grow

More than a thousand vaccine doses are heading for Hart County, according to a public health report — though some local providers haven’t received any doses at all, as the county searches for a mass inoculation facility.
The Hart County Health Department was allocated 1,700 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Feb. 1 report from the Department of Public Health, after it requested 5,000 doses.
Ingle’s Pharmacy in Hartwell is set to receive 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine after requesting 800 doses. Medlink in Hartwell requested 1,000 doses and was allocated 700 doses.
Though, as of Feb. 1, Hartwell Drugs and Hartwell Family Practice hadn’t received any vaccine doses, despite requesting 1,000 and 900, respectively.
Georgia Department of Public Health spokesperson Nancy Nydam said Hartwell Drugs and Hartwell Family Practice did not enroll in the vaccine program until December, while other providers who received the vaccine enrolled as early as August.
“We are not able to allocate vaccine to all providers due to the limited supply,” Nydam said. “...As more vaccine becomes available, we will get it out to additional providers - the more vaccine, the more providers, more of it going into the arms of Georgians.”
The Hart County Health Department has administered 1,166 vaccine doses as of Feb. 1, District 2 public health spokesperson Dave Palmer told The Sun. The DPH does not report how many vaccine doses other providers have administered.
Plans for a mass vaccination facility in Hart County are starting to come together, county administrator Terrell Partain said this week, but the county is still searching for a facility, or multiple facilities, that can accommodate social distancing for at least three months.
The health department hopes to inoculate about 100 people per day, 500 per week, once the facility is opened. But that’s all dependent on the vaccine supply at the time, Partain said.
Across Georgia, 954,786 vaccine doses have been administered as of Feb. 1.
The local death toll from COVID-19 rose to 31 as of Monday, Feb. 1, with 14 additional deaths listed as “probable,” according to the DPH.
The rate of infection has slowed in recent weeks though. Hart County added 108 cases in the last two weeks, a rate of 414 cases per 100,000 people, to its cumulative total of 1,539 infections since the DPH began tracking the data.
The 14-day testing percent positivity rate, which the DPH says can indicate the level of community spread, was at 18.3 percent in Hart County as of Tuesday, a drop of two percent in the past week.
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday, Jan. 28, that 418,584 Georgians who are 65 and older have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Our top priority is getting vaccines in the arms of the most vulnerable Georgians: our seniors,” the governor said.
Additionally, 99.5 percent of nursing homes have successfully had their first clinic through the Operation Warp Speed partnership with CVS and Walgreens. CVS has completed all nursing homes first clinics and 40 percent of second clinics, collectively administering 41,306 doses. Walgreens has completed 73 nursing homes first clinics and 32 percent of second clinics, collectively administering 11,024 total doses.
Kemp’s office announced last week the Biden administration will start allocating Georgia an additional roughly 25,000 vaccine doses per week. That will increase Georgia’s current weekly allotment to 145,900 doses, Kemp’s office said — an amount lagging far behind the millions of doses needed to halt the virus’ spread.
Vaccine supply is very limited, according to the DPH. Public health departments are scheduling vaccines by appointment only, as are most other providers. Depending on vaccine supply allocations from the federal government, it may be weeks before additional providers will have vaccine available for quicker and more widespread distribution.
For more information, or to schedule a vaccine at the Hart County Health Department, visit http://phdistrict2.org/.
Though, the virtual vaccine schedule has been full in recent weeks and no appointments were available in Hart County as of Tuesday morning.