An east Georgia medical center that prioritized teachers in the local line for COVID-19 vaccination is being punished by the state.
Georgia will suspend shipments of coronavirus vaccine to The Medical Center of Elberton until the summer.
Brooke McDowell, an administrator there, said that leaves her Elbert County community with few options to get the potentially life-saving vaccine.
“In essence, it is because we vaccinated school teachers,” McDowell said. “I’m pretty pissed about it because we are a tight-knit community. … Our community is relying on us to vaccinate them, and our state has decided, during a pandemic, to suspend our privileges.”
The Georgia Department of Public Health told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by email Wednesday night that the 6-month suspension is effective immediately until July 27. The center can use its remaining vaccine inventory to give second doses to patients, the agency said.