Columbia County School District is prepared to administer COVID-19 vaccines, in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The school district is waiting for notification that the immunizations are available, according to Superintendent Sandra Carraway.
CCSD has collected more than 1,200 consent forms from the approximate 1,700 employees who have expressed a desire to receive the vaccination. More than 1,600 teachers signed up for the shots and over 100 administrative staff, according to Director of Communications Abbigail Remkus.
The Georgia Department of Public Health is currently administering COVID-19 vaccines in Phase 1A of Georgia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Plan. Vaccinations are available for healthcare workers, residents of long-term care facilities, adults aged 65 and older and first responders.
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Phase 1B of the plan consists of non-healthcare essential workers, including school personnel and teachers.
“Depending on vaccine supply allocations from the federal government, it may be weeks before additional providers will have vaccine available for quicker and more widespread distribution,” according to the Georgia Department of Public Health website.
Distribution of vaccines has been further slowed because shipments have been stopped due to expected bad weather over the weekend, said Nancy Nadam, the state health department spokesperson.
CCSD plans to announce the location of several drive-thru sites prior to implementation of the Columbia County vaccination rollout. CCSD school nurses will assist health department nurses in administering the immunizations.
According to the state public health department Distribution Dashboard, 74 percent of nearly 2 million vaccines shipped to the state of Georgia have been administered, including more than 7,000 in Columbia County.
Shellie Smitley is a staff writer for The Augusta Press. Reach her at shellie@theaugustapress.com
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