First shipment of vaccine arrives on Georgia coast

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Public Health has received the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine for administration in Georgia. Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in Coastal Georgia at two public health locations with ultracold freezers required for storage and temperature control of the vaccine. Additional shipments of vaccine are expected later this week at facilities in other parts of the state, including metro Atlanta.

The first shipments contained 5,850 doses of vaccine for individuals to receive their first dose of the two-dose series. A broader vaccination program for high-priority individuals in Chatham, Glynn and surrounding counties is also scheduled to begin. The district also will make vaccine available to local hospitals as those facilities await their own deliveries.

Because initial COVID-19 vaccine supply is limited, DPH is following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and prioritizing health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities for vaccination. Vaccine will be given through closed points of dispensing or PODs. These sites include public health clinics, hospitals, long-term care facilities, pharmacies, etc., and are only accessible to individuals in defined priority groups.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to give Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization later this week. Assuming the vaccine is authorized for use by FDA, shipments of the Moderna vaccine should begin arriving in Georgia next week.

For updates on COVID-19, follow @GaDPH and @GovKemp on Twitter and @GaDPH and @GovKemp on Facebook. For information about COVID-19, visit https://dph.georgia.gov/novelcoronavirus or https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

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