Expanded GA COVID-19 Vaccination Plans Expected In 'Days': Kemp

ATLANTA, GA — Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday that Georgia is “finalizing” its criteria to make more frontline workers — including teachers — eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination.

“We will be finalizing our expanded criteria in the coming days,” Kemp said at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters, as reported by Atlanta news station WXIA-TV. "Our goal is to protect those vulnerable to this virus and get Georgians back to normal as quickly as we can.”

Currently, only healthcare workers, adults 65 and over, first responders and residents and staff of group care facilities are eligible for the high-demand COVID-19 vaccinations.

When Kemp loosens COVID-19 eligibility requirements, the next groups in line will include more essential workers like teachers and grocery-store employees. Kemp said Friday that plans for expanding eligibility would be announced within the next two weeks.

So far, about 1.75 million doses have been administered in Georgia, Kemp said. That’s about 89 percent of Georgia’s allotment to date.

Kemp’s announcement came the same day that Georgia opened four mass COVID-19 vaccination sites in Fulton, Habersham, Bibb and Dougherty counties. More sites may open soon.

Even though one of Georgia’s first COVID-19 hotspots ignited in Dougherty County, officials were still on social media as late as last Friday, prodding citizens to register there. By Monday morning, Kemp said that appointments in Dougherty County were available as soon as Tuesday.

Georgia politicians have recently targeted Kemp’s use of executive orders to manage the state’s pandemic response, with state legislators looking for ways to clip his wings.

When asked by a reporter what he thought of efforts to limit his authority during a pandemic, Kemp replied that he did “not think it sounds like a good idea” when quick decisions are necessary.

Kemp also used the question as an opportunity to take a veiled shot at Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who almost went to court in 2020 to defend the city’s right to mandate masks when the state wouldn’t.

“If you have a governor who doesn’t have those powers, you can have local jurisdictions overriding,” Kemp said, without mentioning Bottoms by name. “We saw that early in the pandemic when some mayors wanted to shut some of the things down that were overreaching from what the executive order actually said.” Kemp said he would veto such a bill.

Related:

• Mass Vaccination Sites Debut Monday In Atlanta, Other GA Counties
• GA Gov. Kemp Drops Request For Injunction Against Mask Mandate