Who's Getting First Doses Of Coronavirus Vaccine In Georgia

ATLANTA, GA — Coronavirus vaccinations began Tuesday in Georgia, with frontline health-care workers first to receive them. The first vaccines are being distributed nationwide as hospitals in some parts of Georgia fill with COVID-19 patients.

The first shots were given in Savannah at the Chatham County Health Department’s headquarters.

“We are grateful to the Trump administration, Operation Warp Speed, and the private sector for their tireless efforts to get this vaccine developed, approved, and shipped to Georgia,” Gov. Brian Kemp said via social media.

Kemp, Dr. Kathleen Toomey of the Georgia Department of Public Health, and other dignitaries were on hand to witness the first shots.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet, and we still need all Georgians to continue to take safety measures and follow the guidance of Georgia Department of Public Health Officials,” Kemp continued. “Together, we will win this fight!”

With hospitals filling close to capacity in parts of Georgia, the vaccine couldn’t come soon enough. Although Fulton County represents the highest cumulative number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, hospitals in regions just north and east of Atlanta are being taxed to their limits, with beds about 90 percent occupied. In the region including Marietta, Acworth, Woodstock and Canton, beds are already more than 94 percent occupied.

Georgia Coronavirus Numbers For Dec. 15, 2020

The Georgia Department of Public Health in Atlanta reported a total of 484,152 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15. According to the health department’s website, that includes 4,860 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours. In addition, Georgia reported 2,787 new antigen-positive cases over the last 24 hours, which are considered to be probable cases of COVID-19.

Georgia has reported 9,250 deaths so far from COVID-19, with 35 more confirmed deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. Georgia also reported 910 probable deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. These probable deaths include fatalities with indirect evidence of COVID-19.

Georgia reported 38,111 hospitalizations — 374 more than the day before — and 6,896 admissions so far to intensive-care units.

No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.

Counties in or near metro Atlanta and other metropolitan areas continue to have the highest number of COVID-19 positives, with Fulton County still in the lead and Gwinnett County very close behind it. These statistics do not include antigen-positive cases.

1. Fulton County: 43,297 cases — 591 new
2. Gwinnett County: 43,295 cases — 633 new
3. Cobb County: 30,800 cases — 243 new
4. DeKalb County: 30,141 cases — 310 new
5. Hall County: 14,669 cases — 255 new
6. Chatham County: 11,561 — 82 new
7. Clayton County: 11,480 — 99 new
8. Richmond County: 11,085 — 82 new
9. Cherokee County: 10,606 — 120 new
10. Whitfield County: 9,165 — 53 new

Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the most deaths from COVID-19.

1. Fulton County: 707 deaths
2. Gwinnett County: 528 deaths
3. Cobb County: 518 deaths — 4 new
4. DeKalb County: 463 deaths — 1 new
5. Bibb County: 230 deaths — 1 new
6. Chatham County: 214 deaths — 2 new
7. Richmond County: 207 deaths — 3 new
8. Clayton County: 202 deaths
9. Hall County: 201 deaths — 1 new
10. Dougherty County: 200 deaths

All Georgia statistics are available on the state's COVID-19 website.

Globally, more than 73.2 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 1.63 million people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday.

In the United States, more than 16.6 million people have been infected and nearly 303,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Tuesday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.

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