Georgia’s largest mass COVID vaccination site is in Columbus. What to know before you go

Columbus is now home to Georgia’s largest mass vaccination site.

The site, located at the Columbus Civic Center (1 Lumpkin Blvd.), outsizes the state’s eight other sites with a total of 10 vaccination lanes.

The Columbus site has the capacity to perform 1,000 vaccinations per day but is expected to expand, said Jason Ritter, Area 4 field coordinator for GEMA. Three-thousand vaccinations per day is his eventual target for the Columbus site.

The site will open Wednesday along with four others in Georgia’s Bartow, Chatham, Ware and Washington counties. Mass vaccination sites opened in Bibb, Dougherty, Fulton and Habersham counties March 8.

The state projects 1,100 vaccinations per site, per day, for a total of about 50,000 vaccines per week. The whole process is 100% FEMA reimbursed, according to a fact sheet distributed during a media tour on Monday.

The Columbus site is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Residents who want to be vaccinated at a GEMA-funded site must register through myvaccinegeorgia.com, even if they have already signed up with a local provider or health department.

How Columbus got a site

Columbus was chosen as one of the state’s nine mass vaccination sites due to its location and demographics, Ritter said. It’s one of Georgia’s larger cities and fills a hole in west Georgia’s vaccination locations. Access to the Civic Center should also be fairly easy for rural counties south and east of Columbus, Ritter said.

The selection of Columbus as a mass vaccination location was a mutual effort between the local consolidated government and state agencies and government.

“We had we talked with the governor about the fact that we would seem to be lagging a little bit behind some other communities and within the next week, we had some additional doses. And we also had the announcement of the mass vaccination site,” said Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson.

Once Columbus was confirmed as a new site location, a flurry of activity followed to get the site up and running in time for Wednesday’s opening. Crews worked 24-hours a day in shifts to erect the tents, equipment, generators and other supplies needed for the site. GEMA, the National Guard, the Department of Defense and other agencies were part of this process.

Traveling nurses came from outside Columbus to staff the site. John Westlake, Interim Chief Nurse Leader for the Columbus vaccination site, was taking nurses and pharmacists through a training marathon Monday.

The opening of the mass vaccination site will increase vaccinations in Muscogee County and relieve the pressure on other vaccination sites.

“That frees us up as far as our staff,” Kirkland said. “We can continue to vaccinate people as well, now that there are just more places for people to get a vaccine.”

The mass vaccination site

Columbus’ mass vaccination site is set up in the Columbus Civic Center parking lot, which has a history of hosting vaccination drives and community events. It’s been home to yearly rabies vaccinations for decades, said Pam Kirkland, spokesperson for the West Central Health District.

At the drive-through vaccination site, drivers snake through 10 tented lanes to receive the vaccine shot. Medical staff observe patients for 15 minutes after the shot in case of a rare allergic reaction.

Kirkland has seen dozens of immunization sites, but said the mass vaccination site in Columbus was singularly impressive. It’s larger and equipped with greater resources than anything Kirkland’s seen in the city before.

To register at the Columbus mass site, eligible patients fill out a form online at myvaccinegeorgia.com. Patients will be contacted via email to schedule the appointment and to receive a QR code, which they must bring to the appointment along with proof of residency.

There is no cost and insurance is not required. Vaccinations are available by appointment only.

For patients who aren’t technologically savvy, there’s a phone number associated with each mass vaccination site where staff will guide patients through the registration process. For Columbus, this number is 844-276-1131.

Looking forward to fully vaccinating Columbus

Ritter and other site workers said they expect some hiccups as the site begins to perform vaccinations. Most of the nurses are used to working in hospitals, not parking lots, he said.

Westlake has a long history battling COVID. In the early days of the pandemic, he worked on the frontlines at a COVID-19 field hospital in California. Since then, he’s traveled to various sites across the country to help combat the pandemic. He came to Columbus from an assignment in Hawaii and now his leadership at the vaccination site marks his first ever visit to the Peach State.

“Oh, God, it’s the opportunity to come out here and do some actual good,” Westlake said. “It’s closing the loop from when I took care of patients when they first started getting COVID ... You just can’t ask for anything better as a health care professional.”

Westlake is apprehensive but excited for the site’s opening on Wednesday.

“I probably won’t be sleeping that night,” he said. “I’m sure it’s gonna be nothing but nerves the whole entire day.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to further expand vaccine eligibility in the coming weeks. A wave of newly eligible Georgians could create a surge of interest at the Columbus site.

Educating Columbus about the vaccine’s safety is the next hurdle for local partners. Henderson and Kirkland are planning community initiatives to openly share vaccination stories and address hesitancy.

“We’re going to make sure that there’s nothing that we could have done (more) as a consolidated government to get more people vaccinated,” Henderson said.

Know before you go

What to bring to your appointment:

• QR code from registration process
• Proof of Georgia residency

Current eligible residents include:

• Those over 55 and their caregivers

• Healthcare personnel

• Long-term care facility residents and staff

• Law enforcement

• Pre-K through 12 educators and staff

• Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

• Parents of children with complex medical conditions

SITES OPEN NOW

• Delta Air Museum, 1220 Woolman Place SW, Hapeville, Georgia 30354

• Albany Georgia Forestry Site, 1150 Oakridge Drive, Albany, GA 31701

• Habersham County Fairgrounds, 4235 Toccoa Highway, Clarkesville, GA 30523

• Macon Farmers Market, 2055 Eisenhower Parkway, Macon, GA 31206

ADDITIONAL SITES OPEN MARCH 17

• LakePoint Sports Complex (844-275-8966), 261 Stars Way, Emerson, GA 30121

• Gulfstream Aerospace (844-276-2906), 2 Innovation Drive, Savannah, GA 31408 (Via I-95 exit 104)

• Columbus Civic Center (844-276-1131), 1 Lumpkin Blvd, Columbus, GA 31901

• Waycross Mall (844-276-3952), 2215 Memorial Drive, Waycross, GA 31501

• Sandersville Word of Life Church (844-276-0928), 1214 S. Harris Street, Sandersville, GA 31082

Visit myvaccinegeorgia.com for more information.

This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 1:12 PM.