ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia officials warned Tuesday that the state may not see a jump in its weekly allotment of 120,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from the federal government until April, so they will continue to limit eligibility for the inoculations.
The state has not expanded vaccine access to groups such as teachers and people with developmental disabilities. Instead, it’s continuing to focus on its current priority population, which includes people over 65 and first responders, Gov. Brian Kemp said at a news conference. Kemp said that group numbers over 2 million people.
The state had administered just over 713,000 doses as of Tuesday – about 60% of the vaccine it’s been allocated, State Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said. The best-performing states have used more than 85% of their vaccine doses.
Still, she and Kemp said the state needed more vaccine.
“The truth is we do not yet have enough vaccine for those most at risk of serious complications or death from this virus,” Kemp said.