Volunteers Wanted To Help Distribute Coronavirus Vaccination

GEORGIA — The Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday that it is now receiving offers from medical professionals and other individuals looking for ways to help with the COVID-19 vaccination response.

An effective response relies on volunteers who are pre-credentialed and organized, the department said. Georgia Responds is Georgia’s health and medical volunteer program which matches the skills and credentials of medical and non-medical volunteers to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia.

Georgia has now seen a total of 680,373 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, with 5,379 reported Sunday excluding antigen positive cases; however, state officials have said there is a lag in the data reported each day due to the lag time between when the case was tested and when it was submitted to the state health department for reporting purposes. The state's positivity rate is 10.8 percent, per public health data.

Saturday marked the fifth day in a row that more than 100 deaths have been reported. A total of 757 people died from the coronavirus in Georgia since Monday. Five of the six deadliest days of the pandemic in Georgia have been in just the past week.

Licensed medical volunteers including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and advanced EMS personnel, including EMT Intermediate and above, may be used to administer vaccination. Nonmedical volunteers may be used in administrative roles such as registering individuals for vaccination, data input, language interpretation, other administrative areas as needed, and providing guidance and assistance at vaccination administration sites.

To volunteer, log on to the Department of Public Health's website and click on the “Register Now” box. Prospective volunteers will be asked for their name, address, contact information and occupation type. In order to be eligible for some assignments, responders are encouraged to complete a profile summary, which includes skills and certifications, training, medical history, emergency contact and deployment preferences.

Once the skills and credentials are reviewed, volunteers will be notified by a Department of Public Health representative.

In total, Georgia has seen 46,619 people hospitalized because of the coronavirus, as of 3 p.m. Sunday.

Georgians age 65 and older, first responders, health care workers, and long-term care facility residents and staff are eligible for the coronavirus vaccine as of publication Jan. 16, per the state's phased rollout of the vaccine. Georgia is in Phase 1A+ of the rollout.

Those who wish to be vaccinated can find vaccination sites across the state on the state public health department's vaccination locator tool. Appointments are required to receive the vaccine, and Georgians can go to any vaccination site in the state — not just the ones in their county of residence.

Publix is offering vaccination appointments at 108 of its pharmacies in Georgia, and Kroger is offering vaccination appointments at all of its pharmacies in the state. To schedule an appointment at Publix, visit the grocer's online reservation system. To schedule at Kroger, visit its website.