Weather Delays Coronavirus Vaccine Shipments To Georgia

GEORGIA — Winter weather across the country is significantly impacting shipments of the coronavirus vaccine to Georgia. The Georgia Department of Public Health said on Tuesday that it received notification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that normally would have arrived the first part of this week were held back by the manufacturers due to the weather.

As a result, many providers statewide, including health departments, are being forced to reschedule appointments for vaccination. Rescheduling appointments will depend on when shipments resume and when the vaccine arrives in Georgia. Delays are expected to continue through the week.

A limited number of vaccines had left the manufacturing facilities ahead of the winter weather and were assigned tracking numbers. The Department of Public Health has requested that those shipments be released and delivered as soon as weather conditions permit. Department of Public Health will continue to update vaccine providers on when to expect their allocations of vaccine.

Department of Public Health is asking the public to be patient as we wait for weather conditions to improve and vaccine shipments to resume. Your provider should contact you about rescheduling your appointment. For people who were scheduled to receive second doses of vaccine and are worried about not being vaccinated at 3 or 4 weeks, the CDC says second doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may be administered up to 6 weeks after the first dose.

The Department of Public Health launched a new coronavirus vaccine dashboard on its website. The dashboard provides a detailed, transparent picture of vaccination administration in Georgia.

As of Wednesday, Georgia has administered 1,541,057 vaccines, with more than 1 million being the first dose. Statewide, 78 percent of provider-shipped vaccinations have been administered.