Georgia medical center suspended vaccination program after inoculating school district officials

Georgia medical center suspended vaccination program after inoculating school district officials

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The Georgia Department of Public Health was notified on Tuesday that the Elberton Medical Center was vaccinating Elbert County School District employees who were outside the category of people eligible for the Phase 1A + vaccine. After an investigation, DPH confirmed the information and suspended the medical center, a department statement said.

CNN contacted the Elberton Medical Center for comment.

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Elbert County School superintendent Jon Jarvis said many of the more than 500 district officials were eager to receive the vaccine.

“It is difficult to wear a mask when you are trying to teach students sounds,” Superintendent Jarvis told CNN affiliate WXIA. “Vaccination for teachers, bus drivers, school nutritionists … they should be in the first group in my opinion”.
Georgia is currently administering vaccines to people in the 1A + group, which includes healthcare professionals, long-term care facility employees and residents, adults over 65 and their caregivers, as well as first responders, according to Georgia DPH.

During the suspension, the rural medical center will not be eligible for shipments of Covid-19 vaccines, although it is allowed to use the remaining stock of the vaccine to administer second doses to patients “as applicable,” said DPH.

“It is critical that DPH maintains the highest standards of responsibility for the vaccine to ensure that all federal and state requirements are met by all parties and that the vaccine is administered efficiently and equitably,” said the DPH.

As the variants threaten another outbreak and schools hope to send students back to classrooms full-time safely, authorities and residents have been asking for more doses of vaccine. But health experts across the country say that vaccine distribution is slow and will take months before all Americans can be vaccinated.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.

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