Georgia's governor says he expects health care workers in Georgia will begin being vaccinated against COVID-19 in the second or third week of December.
Gov. Brian Kemp's remarks came Monday as health officials are watching for an expected increase in coronavirus infections following Thanksgiving.
Georgia is averaging more than 3,000 confirmed and probable cases a day. Nearly 2,200 people were in Georgia hospitals on Monday with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the highest number since Sept. 1.
The pandemic's impact has been heavy at nursing homes, which have recorded nearly one-third of all of Georgia’s deaths.
Monday, Kemp signed two executive orders extending Georgia's Public Health State of Emergency until January 8, 2021.
“In that order, we’re gonna allow nurses and pharmacists to deliver the vaccine in a drive-thru type setting. When we do get the vaccine, that will just be another way to get folks vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
That order also permits any nurse or pharmacist to observe patients for the requisite 15-minute window after receiving the vaccine.
Both orders took effect this morning [on December 1, 2020] at 12:00 am.
Georgia currently has more than 422-thousand cumulative cases of the virus and more than 87-hundred people have died.