On Tuesday, March 23 Governor Brian Kemp announced that more Georgia residents will soon be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. All Georgia residents aged 16 or older will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine starting on Thursday, March 25.
This comes after months of extreme demand, as only specific groups of the most at risk people or those considered essential workers had been eligible for the vaccine up until now. Children sixteen and older will only have access to the Pfizer vaccine, and those who are sixteen or seventeen will need consent from a parent or guardian.
Kemp said the slow vaccine rollout has been partly due to the state of Georgia receiving significantly less vaccines per 100,000 people when compared to the amounts that other states have received. Another challenge that has hindered the state’s vaccine progress is the online registration system used to book appointments. The registration website has faced numerous technical difficulties—from incorrectly displaying more doses available than there actually were, to failing to update to include more appointment availability for additional groups who were not initially eligible would later become eligible.
There is also concern that this increase in eligibility will create another high surge of demand. Dr. Amber Schmidtke told 11 Alive News that there will likely be a “boom in demand” with many people trying to get the vaccine at the same time.
Vaccine appointments can be booked using myvaccinegeorgia.com.
More information about the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine locations in Georgia can be found on the Georgia Department of Health website: https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine