When mass COVID vaccination site closes, Muscogee County efforts will change. Here’s how

When Columbus’ mass vaccination site closes next week, it’ll leave behind a changed landscape of vaccine distribution in the Chattahoochee Valley.

At 5 p.m. May 21, the fortress of tents at the Columbus Civic Center’s mass vaccination site will return to a simple parking lot for the event venue. The site, one of eight throughout Georgia, can perform up to 1,000 vaccinations per day. It’s the closest mass clinic for residents of west Georgia, with the next nearest sites about 90 miles away in Macon and Atlanta.

The closure has been scheduled since the eight sites opened — the 9-week contract among the state and its partners was always set to expire on that date, said Jason Ritter, Georgia Emergency Management Affairs leader for the Columbus site.

But for Columbus, the closure will come far before the majority — or even half — of its residents are vaccinated. About 20% of Columbus is fully vaccinated, according to May 11 data from the Georgia Department of Health. Roughly 28% of Georgia and 32% of the nation is fully vaccinated.

About 25% of Columbus residents have received at least one dose, compared to the Georgia average of 36% and national average of 47%.

When the state’s mass vaccination sites close, the task of reaching people who lack access to the vaccine and engaging with those who are hesitant could create a strain for local entities.

Vaccine hesitancy and age group discrepancies

Vaccination rates could slightly rise before the closures. Through May 21, the sites are offering the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and second dose appointments for the Pfizer vaccine, Ritter said. First doses of Pfizer were not offered after May 3 as the site will close before patients are ready for a second dose.

The Columbus mass site has performed roughly 31,000 vaccinations since its opening, according to Ritter, or about 36% of the 86,402 vaccine doses administered so far in Muscogee County.

In Columbus, overall demand for vaccinations at both the mass site and the health department has waned in recent weeks, Ritter and Pamela Kirkland, spokesperson for West Central Health District, said. This drop could be due in part to vaccine availability expanding to additional categories of local providers, such as pharmacies and doctor’s offices.

But Kirkland thinks the decrease in demand is also linked vaccine hesitancy or even refusal.

“A lot of people are saying that everybody who’s wanted to get vaccinated, has gotten vaccinated,” Kirkland said. “And that may or may not be true, but we may see some increases (at the health department) once the mass site has closed up shop.”

Vaccine hesitancy exists in all corners of Columbus, Kirkland says. Younger age groups comprise a large chunk of Columbusites who haven’t been vaccinated. As of May 11, roughly 15% of 25-34 year olds, 14% of 20-24 year olds, and 9% of 15-19 year olds have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to DPH data.

Older age groups trend higher. DPH data shows that roughly 33% of 35-64 year olds in Columbus — more than double that of younger groups — have received at least one dose. About 74% of those 65 and older in Columbus have received at least one dose, more than five times the percent vaccinated for younger age groups.

Large numbers of young people may be forgoing the vaccine because they’ve already had the virus, or aren’t as concerned about the severity of the illness, Kirkland said. However, the number of vaccinated Georgians in the 15-19 range could rise following the Food & Drug Administration’s recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine for 15-18 years olds.

Reaching undervaccinated groups

While the mass vaccination site was performing a large chunk of the county’s shots this spring, Kirkland said the health department zeroed in on efforts to address hesitancy, educate residents and reach undervaccinated groups.

The health department and city leaders have turned to local churches and community organizations to get more shots in arms. Faith leaders and community figures have publicly shared their experience getting the vaccine and encouraged their communities to do the same. These efforts will continue expanding in Columbus, Mayor Skip Henderson said.

“We have done drive-throughs at fire stations, on-site vaccinations at churches and businesses, we have used a mobile vaccination vehicle to get into neighborhoods that may not be able to schedule through a web portal. We have partnered with a call center to reach individuals without internet capability,” Henderson said. “We are going to continue to educate and vaccinate as many people as possible.”

For transient, homeless, or remote patients, the J&J vaccine is often the best option since only one dose is required. Columbus’ mass vaccination site has had a high rate of distribution for these key population groups.

The Civic Center site performs about 50 J&J vaccinations per day, Ritter said, which is relatively high among the state’s sites. Virtually all of the J&J vaccinations performed at the Civic Center have been walk-in, which can make access easier for transient people or those with conflicting work schedules.

The West Central Health District has administered a total of 3,487 J&J vaccines from March 11 to May 10, Kirkland said, coming out to an average of 58 vaccines per day. Health departments in and around Columbus will continue to administer the J&J vaccine and host pop-up vaccine events.

But the mass site’s closure may shift some of the demand for vaccines back onto local health departments and other providers. When the mass site closes, local health departments will be the only state-sponsored providers of the vaccine for Georgians.

Pressure may return to health departments

The presence of a mass vaccination site in west Georgia took some pressure off local providers. During the summer and winter surges of the virus, the West Central Health District had to devote the bulk of its medical staff and resources to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Since the mass site opened in March, health departments have been able to resume more of their normal services, such as immunizations and family planning services, Kirkland said.

“(The mass site) was a wonderful addition to the community effort to get the vaccine out there and really allowed us to get back to seeing our regular patients for those services that we regularly provide,” Kirkland said.

But the health department’s momentary return to normalcy may end just as a summer surge in other services begins.

The West Central Health District sees a notable increase in pediatric immunizations each summer for school children checking off vaccine requirements. Last summer, the health department was able to juggle the concurrent surges of pediatric immunizations and COVID-19 services due to an influx of federal COVID-19 funding that allowed them to hire additional nurses and medical staff.

This year, the health department isn’t sure what will come. Kirkland expects the usual increase in pediatric immunizations, and there’s a new requirement for 11th graders to have a meningococcal vaccine. That combination will make the health department just as busy as any other summer, but the unknown factor is how much demand there will be COVID-19 services.

When more providers began offering the vaccine, like pharmacies and mass vaccination sites, the health department saw a drop in demand. Kirkland doesn’t think demand will be as high as during the winter surge when “we were the only people that were able to provide the vaccine,” but it’s hard to predict how much a difference the mass site’s absence will make.

Though pharmacies, hospitals and doctor’s offices will help share the burden this time, the loss of the mass vaccination site is still significant. But whatever the pandemic has in store for Columbus this summer, Kirkland thinks the health department is on better footing to meet it thanks to the presence of the mass vaccination site.

“Just being able to breathe a little bit has been really helpful for all our nursing staff and our staff at the clinics who have been working so hard,” Kirkland said. “If we do see an increase, I think they will be better equipped to handle that.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 6:00 AM.