ATLANTA — Teachers and staff across the state can finally roll up their sleeves to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia. Educators have been pushing Gov. Brian Kemp to expand eligibility to include them -- and the day has finally come.
Kemp made the announcement last week that they'd be eligible, along with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers, and parents of children with complex medical conditions who are at high risk for COVID complications.
Only teachers and staff at schools of Pre-K, K-12, DECAL licensed or exempt childcare programs are eligible at this time, the governor's office said. It does not include staff at colleges and universities.
The governor has stressed the need for children to return to face-to-face instruction.
"To ensure that happens as quickly as possible, effective March 8, Pre-K, K through 12, public and private school teachers and faculty and the Department of Early Care Learning educators and staff will now be eligible for the vaccine," he said last week.
A representative with Kemp's office confirmed that 83,000 doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive Monday and Tuesday, with some educators getting the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine.
For a complete breakdown - and to see if you are eligible - click here.
Those who are not covered under these categories can register at the Georgia Department of Public Health's MyVaccineGeorgia website for email updates and learn when they will be eligible to receive the vaccine.
The state has a total of nine mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the state. Four of them are open now -- in Fulton, Bibb, Dougherty and Habersham counties. The remaining five sites -- in Chatham, Ware, Washington, Bartow and Muscogee counties -- will open on March 17.