Health department appointments move to state web portal, call center
The past week brought significant changes in who can be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Georgia, as well as how vaccination appointments are made in the six-county North Georgia Health District.
Last Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Public Health announced, beginning March 25, Georgia’s COVID-19 vaccine eligibility would be expanded to include all Georgians age 16 and up.
According to a release from the North Georgia Health District, an increased vaccine supply and the large number of Georgia’s senior citizens already vaccinated both contributed to the state moving forward to ensure “all vaccine doses are being put into arms.”
With that broadened eligibility, the health district, which includes Gilmer, Pickens, Fannin, Murray, Cherokee and Whitfield counties, has moved its online appointment process to the new Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) online portal, which can be accessed at gta-vras.powerappsportals.us.
Those who want to make a vaccination appointment by phone at health department clinics in the six counties can now do so by calling 1-888-457-0186. The call center previously used by the health district to schedule COVID vaccine appointments will no longer be used.
“We will switch (to) the state online web portal and call center for all appointments,” confirmed Ashley Deverell, North Georgia Health District immunization coordinator. “The state is very interested in having all public health appointments available in one location so that residents can easily find available appointments and have choices.”
Jennifer King, health district public information officer, said the Piedmont Community Center at 824 Industrial Boulevard will remain the Gilmer Health Department’s official vaccination clinic site.
“The reason for the move several weeks ago was because they anticipated the need to vaccinate larger numbers of people as more and more Georgians become eligible,” King added.
As of last Wednesday, 11,075 COVID-19 vaccinations had been provided by Gilmer Health Department staff since the vaccination effort began last December. King said the districtwide total for the six-county health district was 107,078, also as of last Wednesday.
According to the Georgia Public Health COVID-19 Dashboard, more than 3.6 million people had received vaccinations in Georgia as of Monday.
The north Georgia district’s health departments will continue to provide the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, both of which require two doses staggered by several weeks. According to Georgia Public Health, the Pfizer brand is the only COVID vaccine approved for teens age 16 or 17.
Deverell said the health district would love to begin using the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine more, but has yet to receive a considerable enough amount of that particular brand to distribute it widespread.
The Johnson & Johnson shots were recently used to vaccinate several employees of the Gilmer school system and local private schools.
Deverell said the local health department doesn’t anticipate any additional assistance, such as from the National Guard, in administering the vaccines.
“We have not yet seen a rapid increase in demand since the newest eligibility was announced. In fact, the Gilmer Health Department started the day with appointments still available,” she added.