Medical center that gave Georgia educators COVID vaccines early won’t get more — for now
An east Georgia medical center that gave school district employees early access to the COVID-19 vaccine won’t receive any new shipments of the shots until late summer, state health officials said.
The Georgia Department of Public Health is cutting off supply to the Medical Center of Elberton for the next six months after learning the facility “vaccinated individuals in the Elbert County School District who were outside of the current Phase 1A+ eligible population,” a spokesperson for the department confirmed to McClatchy News on Thursday.
Officials in Elbert County,35 miles east of Athens, say the decision has left the rural community of about 20,000 with few options as millions of Americans nationwide are waiting to receive the vaccine. The county only has two sites where people can get the shot, according to the state’s vaccine locator.
“In essence, it’s because we vaccinated school teachers,” Brooke McDowell, a practice administrator at the medical center, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m pretty pissed about it because we are a tight-knit community. ... Our community is relying on us to vaccinate them, and our state has decided, during a pandemic, to suspend our privileges.”
The medical center began offering shots to all school district employees who wanted them, and about 40% jumped at the opportunity, the newspaper reported.
Under state guidelines, however, educators and other school district employees — cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians — aren’t yet eligible to receive the vaccine, unless they’re at least 65 years old. Phase 1A+ only includes essential health care workers, emergency first responders, long-term care facilities staff and residents aged 65 and older, according to the state health department’s website.
The state said it was notified Jan. 26 and launched an investigation into reports that the Medical Center of Elberton had been prioritizing school district employees in the early vaccine phase.
“Following an investigation and a verification of vaccine administration through GRITS (Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services), the information received by DPH was deemed factual,” a spokesperson for the department said.
The center has since been suspended from the COVID-19 Vaccination Program in Georgia, making it ineligible to receive new vaccine shipments until July 27. The suspension is effective immediately, but officials said the center can use its remaining supply to administer second doses to people.
“It is critical that DPH maintains the highest standards for vaccine accountability to ensure all federal and state requirements are adhered to by all parties, and vaccine is administered efficiently and equitably,” a DPH spokesperson told McClatchy News.
District pushes to prioritize educators
As of Thursday, Georgia has administered more than 791,000 doses of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, state health data shows. However, the Peach State stills lags behind other states when it comes to getting the potentially live-saving vaccine into arms, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month.
Elbert County Superintendent Jon Jarvis said the district had been in talks to get educators vaccinated since September and began doing so in early January, 11Alive reported.
The district has nearly 3,000 students and 500 employees.
“It’s hard to wear a mask when you’re trying to teach students sounds,” Jarvis said, according to the news station. “The vaccination for teachers, bus drivers, school nutrition workers ... they should be considered in the first group in my opinion.”
Georgia, like other states, has faced pressured to bump its 400,000 educators to the front of the line but officials say the vaccines are in “very limited supply” and available by appointment only.
In a statement Thursday, the Elbert County School District and said it would continue to “prioritize the safety and well-being of our teachers, support staff, and students” in the wake of the vaccine suspension.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 2:47 PM.