Interest in COVID-19 rising in Albany

ALBANY — The good news is that there are two vaccines for the novel coronavirus in Southwest Georgia these days; the bad news is that for the general public the wait to get a shot could be a lengthy one.

While Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital plans to become a hub for vaccinating southwest Georgia residents once they become readily available, under the first phase of distribution guidelines the list of those who are eligible is limited.

In recent days Phoebe has seen an interest in the vaccine increase.

“Unfortunately, some members of the community who are not currently eligible to be vaccinated have attempted to receive the shot,” the hospital said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “We understand that many people are anxious to receive the protection the vaccine provides, and we encourage everyone to be vaccinated when they are eligible.”

Through Sunday, Phoebe had administered COVID-19 vaccines to 1,446 southwest Georgia health care workers.

“With the Christmas holiday behind us, we expect our vaccination rate to increase, and we encourage all health care workers who are currently eligible to receive the vaccine under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia Department of Public Health guidelines to set up an appointment and get vaccinated,” the statement said.

“Phoebe must and will continue to follow the COVID-19 vaccination guidelines. Currently, we are still in Phase 1a of that process, meaning we are only allowed to vaccinate eligible health care workers.”

The hospital is continuing its efforts to vaccinate its work force and also is vaccinating employees at other health care providers in the area.

“We hope to receive additional doses of the vaccine in the coming weeks, and we look forward to the day when we are allowed to open vaccinations to the broader public. We will continue to coordinate closely with the CDC and DPH and communicate details of those public vaccination plans when we are able to do so.”

Those covered under Phase 1a also include residents of urgent and long-term care facilities, emergency medical service workers, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, home health agencies, hospice organizations and certain specialty care facilities as well as jails, according to the Southwest Public Health District.

Organizations in the 14-county district can apply by visiting its website at southwestgeorgiapublichealth.org.

Individuals who are self-employed as health care workers should contact a local health department for information and scheduling.