GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The mass vaccination site being set up at the old Sears at Gwinnett Place Mall in Gwinnett County opened Friday.
The county's public health officials held a news conference to provide details on the opening. Although Friday is 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.
The clinic is rather large with about 80,000 square feet. Before this location opened, the county's largest vaccination site was operating out of the health department headquarters in Lawrenceville. This site will be able to handle more people.
"We saw a need, we had the resources, and we kicked into high gear to make sure we that we could meet a critical need in our community," said Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson
"This site is the product of what it means when we all come together."
Those interested in the vaccine should know that vaccinations at the site are available by appointment only, and the county right now is booked through at least next Saturday, Feb. 13.
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the state said Georgia had administered 1,073,482 vaccines. Data shows that about 69 percent of doses received in Georgia have been administered.
Gov. Brian Kemp said earlier in the week, 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.