ELBERT COUNTY, Ga. — A private clinic in Elbert County, Georgia went as far as purchasing a $7,000 freezer for COVID-19 vaccines -- and even a building to administer them in.
However, the state shut them down and seized the remaining vaccines they were holding back for second doses.
The Medical Center of Elberton garnered national attention when they began to vaccinate teachers -- who are not eligible for the shots based on the state's guidance of phase 1A+.
The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) suspended supply of vaccines to the Medical Center of Elberton until July 27 after officials learned the clinic was giving shots to Elbert County school district employees.
"Everything that we had tried to do up until now to vaccinate our county was just laid to waste," Dr. Jonathan Poon, who works at the clinic, told NBC News.
He said 470 shots of the Pfizer vaccine were confiscated in a raid of the clinic.
Poon said they had already vaccinated 177 school workers before the state shut them down, but, said they did that while they were also vaccinating seniors.
He told NBC News that they were trying to do it all "simultaneously" giving 60 to70 shots per day. Poon said that they were the only ones giving that many, at that rate, in the county.
Because they were so efficient, he said they wrapped up Phase 1A early and moved onto essential workers.
But, the state made a change, adding 65 years and older to the first tier, which is ahead of essential workers. Poon said they didn't know.
Terrie Glaude, a teacher in Elbert County, told NBC News she was "very lucky" because she got her second dose just days before the state confiscated the remaining shots.
"Everyone wants their kids in school," Glaude said. "And the way to keep them in school is to let our teachers be vaccinated along with the elderly population and then move down, you know, as it’s appropriate."
One resident of Elbert County said she would have gladly given up her second dose for a teacher.
"Being retired, I have the ability to stay away from it more than they do," 68-year-old Marlene Lord said. "I want the kids in school. And I think the more protection there is, the better it is."
The clinic appealed the state's decision, however, they lost.
Dr. Chris Rustin, with the DPH told NBC News that they had no choice.
"Going outside of the phase in almost a deliberate manner was something that we could not ignore," he said. "And we needed to make sure that others that are vaccinating understand that we have such limitations on our vaccine supply that we have to follow a plan that's been clearly communicated."
Gov. Brian Kemp continues to voice his frustration about the lack of supply. He responded to the Atlanta Board of Education's request last week to expand the criteria for those eligible.
"If the state were receiving adequate supply of the COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Toomey and I would quickly move to expand the vaccination criteria," Kemp wrote in a letter addressed to the Board.
Phase 1A+ in Georgia only makes the vaccine available to health care workers, long-term care residents and staff, people 65 years and older along with their caregivers, and law enforcement. This phase doesn't include teachers or other educators.
Kemp said the 1A+ vaccination group covers about 2 million Georgians, including more than 1.3 million seniors. To date, more than 1 million Georgians have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
"To prioritize vaccination of teachers and school staff under the age of 65 would mean adding an additional 450,000 Georgians to the rolls of those currently eligible," Kemp wrote in response to the letter from the Atlanta Board of Education. "Currently many public health districts in the metro-Atlanta area have already had to pause additional first-dose appointments - not because of a lack of demand, but due to a severe lack of vaccine supplied to our state from the federal government."
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last week that teachers don't have to wait to be vaccinated before returning to the classroom.
During an online White House coronavirus news briefing, Walensky said that scientific data prove that students and teachers - using masks and social distancing - can be safe from the coronavirus in the classroom, and that teachers shouldn’t wait to get the vaccines.
NBC News contributed to this report.