Booster dose approval, mass vaccination centers in District 2 to reopen
Community September 28, 2021
GAINESVILLE – Booster vaccine doses for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have been approved for specific groups of fully vaccinated individuals. Although the booster dose is not required, it will help fully vaccinated people maintain protection over the coming months.
It is important to note, COVID-19 vaccines are working well to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death, but with the introduction of the Delta variant, public health experts noticed a reduction of protections against mild and moderate disease.
Booster vaccine doses are approved for the following groups of people who received their second Pfizer vaccine at least 6 months ago: Recommendations will only apply to individuals who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for their primary series
- 65 years and older
- Residents of long-term care facilities
- 18 and older with underlying medical conditions that put a person at high-risk
- 18 and older who have an occupational or institutional exposure risk
The approval is for the Pfizer vaccine ONLY. Moderna and Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccines have not been approved for additional booster doses, right now there is not enough data to support a booster dose recommendation. Both Moderna and J&J are expected to submit data to the FDA in support of booster doses in the coming weeks.
District 2 Public Health and Northeast Georgia Health System want to provide the community an opportunity to be vaccinated with ease and remind the community it is important to get fully vaccinated to keep our communities safe and to stop the spread of COVID-19. District 2 will re-open mass vaccination sites in most of its 13 counties as of September 27.
The following counties will begin administering all doses of the Pfizer vaccine and will have first dose Moderna and J&J vaccines available upon request on September 27:
All Health Departments will be vaccinating every other Saturday. Hall and Forsyth health departments will be vaccinating every Saturday starting October 2. Check with your local health department for Saturday hours and location.
- Banks County – City of Homer Fire Department – 243 Sycamore St., Homer, GA 30547
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Dawson County – Fire Station #2 – 8388 Hwy 53, Dawsonville, GA 30534
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Franklin County – Franklin Co. Recreation Department – 557 Rocky Ford Rd., Carnesville, GA 30531
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Forsyth County – Northside Forsyth Hospital – 1800 Northside Forsyth Dr. suite 360, Cumming, GA 30041
Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday – 8:30 am to 12:00 pm (at the Forsyth Co. Health Department, October 2)
- Habersham County – Cornelia First Presbyterian – 469 N. Main St. Cornelia GA, 30531
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Hall County – Chicopee Woods Agricultural Center – 1855 Calvary Church Rd., Gainesville, GA 30507
Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday – 8:30am to 12:00pm (Starts on October 2)
- Hart County – Flat Shoals Baptist Church – 2999 Bowersville Hwy, Bowersville, GA 30516
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Towns County – Towns County Recreations Department – 150 Foster Park Rd. Hiawassee, GA 30512
Monday and Wednesday 1:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. and Tuesday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- White County – The Bridge Church – 607 Hulsey Rd. Cleveland, GA 30528
Monday 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Lumpkin, Rabun, and Union Counties will continue offering COVID vaccines at the health departments until demand requires a move to a larger location.
Appointments are not required. If an individual prefers to schedule an appointment, they may do so using the VRAS scheduling system via the District 2 Public Health website. Hours of operation and locations may change due to demand. Reference the schedule of locations and hours posted on the public health website to ensure the vaccine site in your county is operational.
For more information on the COVID-19 booster dose visit the CDC website to learn more.
NGHS may have to ration health care asks for help from community
News, Press Release December 25, 2020
PRESS RELEASE
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – As the number of COVID-19 cases across the region, state and nation continue to climb, Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) leaders are asking for your help – and warning another post-holiday spike may force them to start rationing care.
“We’re struggling to find staff and space to care for people, and our frontline workers are exhausted,” said Clifton Hastings, MD, Chief of Medical Staff for Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC). “If COVID cases continue to increase, we may be forced to start making decisions about who we can treat effectively and who we have to send elsewhere or turn away. That’s a decision no physician should have to make, and a situation no one in our community should have to face.”
On November 24, two days before Thanksgiving, NGMC hospitals and long-term care locations were treating 133 COVID-positive patients. That total has more than doubled in the following month, up to a record 296 patients as of December 23. The average percentage of tests the Health System administer that come back positive has also risen sharply, up from 16% to 28% during the same timeframe – matching the previous record set in July.
“Early in the pandemic, we learned that limiting some services and expanding others can create additional space to care for patients – which we’ve continued to do – but we’re still faced with the challenge of maintaining enough qualified physicians and nurses to provide high-quality care,” says John Delzell, MD, COVID-19 Incident Commander for NGHS. “We’re extremely thankful for the staffing support the state has supplied, and we will continue to request additional help, but hospitals across the state all need those same resources.”
NGHS received nearly 5,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on December 17 and has vaccinated approximately 2,000 frontline workers during the past week. The Health System also received around 1,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine on December 23. More shipments are expected in early January.
“It’s important to remember that vaccination isn’t a magic bullet that will end the pandemic immediately,” says Supriya Mannepalli, MD, NGMC’s Medical Director of Infectious Disease Medicine. “People are tired of hearing this, but the best way to protect yourself, the people you love and your community this holiday season is to not visit family and friends outside your household, or take precautions if you do.”
According to Wednesday’s COVID-19 Daily Status Report on the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website, Hall County has seen more COVID activity than any county in the state outside the metro Atlanta area. Hall County ranks:
#4 in Confirmed Cases per 100K – 7,847
#5 in Confirmed Cases – 16,193
#5 in Hospitalizations – 1,526
#9 in Deaths – 210
Other counties in the northeast Georgia region that also appear among the top 30 in those categories include Gwinnett, Forsyth, Jackson, Barrow, Stephens, Habersham and Franklin.
“It’s clear that Hall and surrounding counties have been hit especially hard during the pandemic,” says Richard Higgins, Hall County Commission Chairman. “There are a variety of factors at play, but one common factor we can all control are the personal steps we take wear a mask, wash our hands and watch our distance.”
“We all want to keep working, keep our local businesses open and keep our kids in school,” says Kit Dunlap, President of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. “Taking small, inconvenient steps now, like not having large holiday gatherings, will help our community avoid bigger and more difficult steps in the future – like rationing care. Please celebrate safely.”
Get holiday tips, vaccine information and more helpful resources at nghs.com/COVID.
ABOUT NORTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEM
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 1 million people across the region through four hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has campuses in Gainesville, Braselton, Winder and Dahlonega – with a total of more than 700 beds and more than 1,100 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.