GA Coronavirus: Staff Vaccinations Begin At Nursing Homes

ATLANTA, GA — Georgia public-health workers took the first step in inoculating the state’s nursing home residents against the coronavirus Monday by vaccinating staff against the coronavirus Monday at a Gainesville long-term care facility.

Jonathan Harris, a nursing assistant at a Pruitt Health facility, was the first employee to receive a shot of the Pfizer vaccine, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Staffers will receive COVID-19 vaccinations first to serve as a “firewall” until residents can get their shots, said Dr. Kathleen Toomey, head of the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Nursing-home residents are the Georgians most vulnerable to dying from COVID-19, Toomey said at a news conference Monday. Even though the residents and staff of care facilities are only about 5 percent of coronavirus infections in Georgia, they account for 37 percent of the state’s 9,719 deaths so far.

“Two weeks ago, we watched hope arrive here in the state of Georgia as the COVID-19 vaccine began rolling out throughout the Peach State,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday “No group has been hit harder by the virus than the residents and staff of our long-term care facilities.

Georgia Coronavirus Numbers For Dec. 28, 2020

The Georgia Department of Public Health in Atlanta reported a total of 546,859 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28. According to the health department’s website, that includes 3,165 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours. In addition, Georgia reported 901 new antigen-positive cases over the last 24 hours, which are considered to be probable cases of COVID-19.

Georgia has reported 9,719 deaths so far from COVID-19, with five more confirmed deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. Georgia also reported 977 probable deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. These probable deaths include fatalities with indirect evidence of COVID-19.

Georgia reported 40,952 hospitalizations — 165 more than the day before — and 7,247

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 Gwinnett County back in the lead and Fulton County very close behind it. These statistics do not include antigen-positive cases.

1. Gwinnett County: 49,389 cases — 502 new
2. Fulton County: 49,301 cases — 274 new
3. Cobb County: 35,379 cases — 276 new
4. DeKalb County: 34,124 cases — 308 new
5. Hall County: 16,850 cases — 52 new
6. Clayton County: 12,767 — 81 new
7. Chatham County: 12,504 — 32 new
8. Richmond County: 12,267 — 65 new
9. Cherokee County: 12,226 — 104 new
10. Whitfield County: 10,499 — 25 new

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

1. Fulton County: 731 deaths
2. Gwinnett County: 554
3. Cobb County: 545 deaths
4. DeKalb County: 488 deaths
5. Bibb County: 237 deaths — 1 new
6. Chatham County: 227 deaths — 1 new
7. Richmond County: 218 deaths
8. Clayton County: 218 deaths
9. Hall County: 213 deaths
10. Dougherty County: 203 deaths

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

Globally, more than 81.1 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 1.77 million people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Monday.

In the United States, more than 19.2 million people have been infected and more than 334,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Monday. 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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