DULUTH, Ga. — Gwinnett County health officials plan to open a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at the former Gwinnett Place Mall’s Sears location at the end of the week.
In a news release, officials said the Duluth-area location, which will open Friday, Feb. 5, will be a dedicated site where the Health Department can continue to vaccinate Georgians for the remainder of the operation.
In order to get the vaccination, patients will need an appointment.
Health leaders will hold a news conference at 9 a.m. Friday.
Although Friday will be a soft launch serving a smaller number of people, they hope to work out any logistical issues before opening to more than 1,000 patients on Saturday.
Dr. Audrey Arona, the district health director of the Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale County Health Departments and Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson are expected to be in attendance.
On Wednesday morning, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said so far, more than 1 million people have now had at least one shot administered, with more than 500,000 of those people being seniors.
He also said Georgia would get a small boost from a Biden administration plan to send 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to private pharmacies around the country. With the additional doses filtering into the state, Georgia's allocation would be more than 154,000 doses per week starting with next week's shipment.
Currently, Georgia is in phase 1A+ for vaccine administration. This includes health care workers, long-term care facilities' staff and residents, adults 65+ and their caregivers, along with law enforcement and fire personnel. Get more details about eligibility on the state's website.