As COVID-19 crush eases, Kemp urges more to seek vaccines

Gov. Brian Kemp warned unvaccinated Georgians connected Thursday not to presume that COVID-19 is over, saying the authorities could hazard a 5th surge of the pandemic this wintertime adjacent though cases are steeply declining from the 4th surge that peaked a period ago.

“Today I privation to stress the value of not waiting until the adjacent question of COVID cases to get vaccinated,” Kemp said. “Given that our summation successful cases and hospitalizations successful 2021 was akin successful timing to surges seen successful 2020, we tin lone presume that a wintertime summation is besides possible.”

The Republican again voiced absorption to national plans to to necessitate employers with 100 oregon much workers to mandate vaccination. Kemp said he’s exploring imaginable ineligible enactment with authorities Attorney General Chris Carr. It’s excessively soon to sue, though, due to the fact that the national authorities hasn’t issued a last rule.

“This is unnecessary national authorities overreach that I, personally, don’t deliberation anybody who is simply a businessperson wants,” Kemp said.

The governor, though, said helium respects the close of backstage employers to mandate shots if they privation and opposes authorities authorities that would artifact backstage employers from imposing specified a requirement.

Kemp spokesperson Cody Hall clarified that the politician believes an earlier enforcement bid blocks authorities agencies and nationalist schools from mandating vaccinations, but that metropolis and region governments are not prohibited. The Decatur schoolhouse strategy has moved to necessitate each employees to beryllium vaccinated oregon taxable to regular testing. The cities of Decatur and Brookhaven person mandated that employees indispensable get vaccinated oregon taxable to play testing.

Georgia’s 4th COVID wave, which peaked successful precocious summer, is easing. The seven-day mean of caller affirmative tests person fallen beneath 3,800 a day, down 60% since peaking a period ago. The full fig of COVID-19 patients successful hospitals statewide has fallen by astir half. The crush connected intensive attraction units is easing much slowly, with 90% of ICU beds inactive occupied. Deaths proceed to beryllium recorded astatine a complaint of much than 100 a day, with the authorities rising supra 26,000 deaths arsenic of Thursday.

Georgia’s vaccination complaint has improved somewhat, with authorities information showing 47% of each residents are present afloat vaccinated and 54% person received astatine slightest 1 dose. Georgia has moved up comparatively with different states, but is inactive successful the bottommost 4th of states successful vaccinations per capita.

There are lone 11 counties wherever much than 50% of residents are vaccinated, though that includes the state’s 4 astir populous counties — Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb. There are 3 twelve counties wherever less than a 3rd person been inoculated.

Kemp and Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said that Georgia wasn’t seeing a shortage of monoclonal antibodies, a therapy for those sickened by COVID, adjacent though the national authorities is rationing the treatments and giving retired less doses than were antecedently available.

Toomey said Georgia would travel national guidelines connected who tin person booster shots, though she emphasized they are lone disposable presently to radical who earlier received the Pfizer vaccine. She said among groups that volition beryllium eligible are those implicit 65, radical surviving successful semipermanent attraction facilities, radical younger than 65 with underlying aesculapian conditions and frontline workers who whitethorn beryllium exposed to COVID-19. Toomey acknowledged those groups are truthful ample that they whitethorn encompass astir adults.

“You don’t request to run, but walk, to get your booster,” Toomey said, encouraging radical to besides get a flu vaccine astatine the aforesaid time.