Archbold temporarily halts taking vaccine appointments

Archbold Memorial Hospital has temporarily stopped scheduling any further vaccine appointments due to a state supply shortage, according to information from the hospital.

“We have temporarily stopped scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments through our vaccine call center. We are also unable to schedule online vaccine requests at this time,” states a release issued Tuesday.

“We anticipate to be able to honor all appointments that are currently scheduled. If this changes, you will be contacted about rescheduling your appointment. If you do not receive a call, please plan to receive the vaccine at your scheduled appointment.”

For updates on the situation, visit archbold.org, call (229) 584-7468 to speak with someone or call (229) 228-2273.

Georgia has not yet reached the halfway point in giving first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the roughly 2 million people currently eligible more than a month after the state’s distribution program began, Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday.

The number of shots administered to Georgia healthcare workers, nursing home residents and staff, first responders and people ages 65 and older has gone up in recent weeks after a halting mid-December start, Kemp said at a news conference in the state Capitol.

Kemp’s office announced Tuesday night the Biden administration will start allocating Georgia an additional roughly 25,000 vaccine doses per week. That will increase Georgia’s current weekly allotment to 145,900 doses, Kemp’s office said – an amount lagging far behind the millions of doses needed to halt the virus’ spread.

“Although we still expect demand to far exceed supply for the foreseeable future, this is no doubt welcome news, and we will work around the clock to get these vaccines distributed and safely administered as quickly as possible,” Kemp said in a statement Tuesday night.

As of Monday, nearly 714,000 vaccines had been administered to the initial round of Georgians eligible to receive them, said state Public Health Director Dr. Kathleen Toomey. Health departments across the state have enough vaccines to schedule second doses for people who have received their first, she said.

Gov. Kemp said more than 99 percent of the state’s nursing homes have been supplied vaccines through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. He has set a goal to vaccinate all of Georgia’s nursing home residents and staff by the end of this month.

But limited shipments from the federal government have kept state officials so far from expanding which Georgians can be eligible for the vaccine to school teachers and other at-risk groups such as those with developmental disabilities, Toomey said.

“All this is dependent on the availability of vaccine,” Toomey said at Tuesday’s news conference.

Vaccine providers have also met resistance from some nursing homes and hospitals where people have refused to take the vaccine. Kemp said some nursing homes saw up to 70 percent of staff refuse the vaccine early on during the rollout, while as many as 50 percent of employees in some hospitals refused it.

“I think they should get it,” Kemp said. “That was one of the reasons that we expanded the criteria … to people 65 and older.”

Cairo Mayor Howard Thrower III, said this week he is concerned with the reluctance among local first responders to be vaccinated.

The mayor is working in coordination with Grady General Hospital Administrator Crystal Wells and officials with Archbold Memorial Hospital to stress the importance of the vaccine. An Archbold official will be conducting a meeting with local first responders to explain the importance of being vaccinated and to answer questions.

“I keep hearing the response that they want to wait until more people have been vaccinated and to see how it goes for them, or they don’t think they need it, or that they think if they get the virus it won’t be that bad so they don’t need the shot. Unfortunately, what folks are missing is the fact that while they may have mild symptoms, others die. They are also ignoring the fact that even if they have mild symptoms they could spread it or infect someone who has a serious condition and might die,” the mayor said.

A date for the informational session with the Archbold representative had not been released as The Messenger went to press Wednesday.

The governor said officials are creating a statewide vaccine scheduling and tracking tool as local health departments field a flood of calls for few available appointments, but more work is needed before that tool can go online.

“Doing that prematurely could be disastrous,” Kemp said.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalizations and positive case rates from COVID-19 has fallen in recent days amid a rough winter spike that began in November, Kemp said. He urged Georgians to continue wearing masks, washing hands and keeping their distance from others despite the downward trend.

“We cannot take the improving numbers we’re seeing for granted,” Kemp said.

More than 727,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Georgia as of Tuesday afternoon, with nearly 150,000 more reported positive antigen tests Monday indicating likely positive results. The virus has killed 11,996 Georgians.