Bulloch County has administered almost 17,000 COVID-19 vaccines since doses became available in late December, part of the more than two million vaccine shots given so far in Georgia.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, 12 Bulloch providers have given 16,888 vaccine shots as of Wednesday afternoon. Of those shots, 6,664 are second doses, which means that many are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Also, the Department of Health website indicates 19,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been shipped to Bulloch County so far.
While several providers have requested Pfizer vaccine, the state has not allocated any to Bulloch. A vaccine from Johnson & Johnson was just approved for use and it expected to begin shipping later this week. It is not known if Bulloch County providers will be given any of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Earlier this week, 11 local providers received 2,700 vaccine additional doses. Among the providers, the Bulloch County Health Department received 900, while East Georgia Regional Medical Center and McCook’s Pharmacy got 400 new doses each.
The federal government announced Tuesday that it would increase the supply of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to states next week to 15.2 million doses per week, up from 14.5 million previously. States will receive 2.8 million doses of the J&J shot this week.
Also, President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccine for all adults by the end of May – two months earlier than anticipated. But, despite the stepped-up pace of vaccine production, the work of inoculating Americans could extend well into the summer, officials said, depending both on the government’s capacity to deliver doses and Americans’ willingness to roll up their sleeves.
Bulloch County, state cases
Bulloch County Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Wynn said Bulloch reported five new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and 12 on Tuesday. Bulloch now has recorded 5,071 total COVID cases, which have resulted in 50 confirmed deaths and 204 local residents being hospitalized since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Also, the Georgia DPH is reporting 42 non-confirmed deaths that represent Bulloch citizens who received a positive antigen/rapid test for COVID-19, developed COVID-19 symptoms and later died.
Georgia recorded 1,593 cases on Wednesday and 1,789 on Tuesday. The state's total number of confirmed cases is now up to 823,008.
The state reported 143 deaths on Wednesday and 66 on Monday. The state death toll now stands at 15,349 since March 2020.
Hospitalizations
Wynn said East Georgia Regional Medical Center staff on Wednesday were caring for 14 COVID patients, with four patients on ventilators.
COVID cases that require hospitalization continue to see a strong decline in Georgia. After setting a single-day high Jan. 13 with 6,108 state residents hospitalized, that number dipped to 2,341 on Sunday, but saw a slight increase to 2,348 hospitalized on Tuesday.
Across the United States, cases that require hospitalization have dropped significantly since hitting a peak on Jan. 6 of 132,474 Americans in the hospital with COVID. On Tuesday, hospitalizations had dropped to 46,388. It marked the 49th consecutive day of a decline in hospitalizations.
Vaccinations
Through Monday afternoon, 2,154,840 vaccinations have been administered in Georgia – a total that includes 833,509 second doses, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Currently, anyone 65 and older is eligible to receive a vaccine along with other groups, including health care workers and law enforcement and rescue personnel.
The eligible group will expand on March 8 to include Preschool and K-12 school employees, adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers and parents of children with complex medical conditions will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia.
Further eligibility is expected to expand later in March to more people with high-risk health conditions.
Bulloch residents are urged to contact private providers such as East Georgia Regional Medical Center and local pharmacies directly to see if a vaccine appointment is available.
The only way to schedule an appointment at the Bulloch Health Department is to call (855) 473-4374. Officials asked callers to be patient while on hold to make an appointment.
If an appointment is not available at the Altman St. office in Statesboro, they can schedule an appointment at any of the health departments in the area through the same appointment number.
National case numbers
According to statistics from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, as of Wednesday afternoon, 518,796 Americans had died from coronavirus. Also, Johns Hopkins reported the U.S. has had 28,768,930 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
Bulloch Schools
The Bulloch County Schools system reported five new cases so far this week, and a total of 597 COVID cases since classes started on Aug. 17.
Local colleges
For the third week in a row, Georgia Southern University saw a big drop in new cases last week.
Georgia Southern had 21 total cases reported Feb. 22-28 — 17 self-reported and four university confirmed cases. GS reported 34 total cases for the week of Feb. 15-21.
East Georgia State College reported one new case across its three campuses on Saturday. It was the first new case since Feb. 15. The college has had a total of 153 cases across its three campuses since Aug. 17.
Ogeechee Technical College reported no new cases for the week of Feb. 22–28. Ogeechee Tech has had a total of 67 cases across its campuses since Aug. 17.
Testing sites
COVID-19 testing operated by Mako Medical is available at Luetta Moore Park, 585 Martin Luther King Drive.
Testing schedule: Monday, Wednesday — 8 a.m.–3 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday — 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday — 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; second and fourth Saturday of each month — 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
To register, visit https://mako.exchange/splash/GAmakotesting/.