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The ADVANCE, January 27, 2021 /Page 3A
Covid-19 vaccine rollout in
Georgia awaits more doses
from Biden administration
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia officials over
seeing the state’s CO-
VID-19 vaccine program
are awaiting word from the
new Biden administration
on whether more doses
will head their way amid
an early shortage.
Pharmacies and health
clinics had given out more
than 550,000 doses to
Georgia nursing homes,
hospitals and people at
least 65 years old as of
Thursday, marking roughly
half of the vaccines Geor
gia has received so far, said
state Public Health Com
missioner Dr. Kathleen
Toomey.
That’s far short of the
2 million Georgians now
eligible for the vaccine
who will need two doses
each.
Gov. Brian Kemp
said officials will move “as
quickly as we can” to dis
tribute vaccines if Geor
gia’s current allotment of
120,000 doses per week
increases with the new
president.
“I can’t control the
supply we’re getting,”
Kemp said at a news con
ference Thursday. “But if
we get more ... we will do
everything in our power to
empower not only the gov
ernment, but also private-
sector partners to get this
vaccine in people’s arms.”
Biden, who was in
augurated Wednesday,
has pledged to distribute
100 million vaccines over
the next three months
by using the federal De
fense Production Act to
spur vaccine production
and setting up Federal
Emergency Management
Agency-run vaccination
centers.
More than 1,600 clin
ics, pharmacies, doctors
and groceries have signed
up to administer vaccines
in the month or so since
Georgia’s rollout started,
Toomey said. Their suc
cess depends on how
much supply the federal
government and manufac
turers Pfizer and Moderna
can muster in the coming
weeks.
“This is a federal pro
gram,” Toomey said. “All
the logistics are done at
the federal level.”
Despite concerns,
Kemp and Toomey said
COVID-19 vaccines are
now stocked enough to
ensure Georgians already
vaccinated once will be
able to receive the neces
sary second dose for full
inoculation. That’s due to
a federal program making
headway on vaccinating
residents and staff in nurs
ing homes through CVS
and Walgreens pharma
cies, Kemp said.
“These additional dos
es in the short term will
allow existing providers
and public-health depart
ments at the county level
to expand the number of
appointments that they
are currently scheduling,”
Kemp said. “But our total
supply ... does not fulfill
the demand from seniors
and other at-risk eligible
Georgians.”
Georgia’s vaccine
rollout kicked off in mid-
December at a slow pace,
hindered by short sup
plies and an imbalance in
demand between health
care workers in rural areas
who have shown less zeal
for vaccination than metro
Atlanta hospital employ
ees who have rushed to
schedule appointments.
Meanwhile, deaths
stemming from the high
ly contagious virus have
ticked up in recent weeks,
Kemp said. The grim news
comes during spike in CO-
VID-19 infections over
the winter months that’s
showing signs of a slow
down, Kemp said - but
which is still hammering
communities even harder
than the devastating out
breaks of summer.
The governor urged
Georgians Thursday to
continue wearing masks,
washing hands and keep
distance from each other
as fatigue over safety mea
sures takes root nearly a
year after the pandemic
began.
“Our hospitals can
not handle another surge
of COVID-19 patients on
top of their current work
load,” Kemp said. “This
is not an all-clear signal.
We’ve got to continue to
keep our foot on the gas.”
More than 700,000
people had tested positive
for COVID-19 in Georgia
as of Thursday afternoon,
with nearly more 150,000
more reported positive an
tigen tests indicating likely
positive results. The virus
has killed 11,511 Geor
gians.
Tillery: Week Two Highlights
Last week con
sumed days one
through four of the
40 day legislative ses
sion. This week, the
legislature “recessed”
to focus solely on
the state budget.
Most department
and agency heads
appeared before the
joint House and Sen
ate Appropriations Committees to speak
for the dollars they currently receive and to
make other strategic and specific requests.
Here are a few highlights that affect our
area:
State Economic Outlook
• State economist, Dr. Jeffery Dorf-
man, reported he expects Georgia’s econo
my to remain resilient through 2021.
• Georgia’s unemployment rate has
remained below national levels and, in his
opinion, has reached as close to full em
ployment as possible until the pandemic
ends and industries like restaurants and
hospitality can fully resume.
• Due to stimulus payments and other
federal benefits, individual Georgia fami
lies collectively have more in savings now
than they did before the pandemic.
• Incomes are also up 2.9%. These sta
tistics certainly go against all previous no
tions of a recession.
• While much of this is good news,
these gains could be wiped out next quar
ter with income tax refunds and much un
certainty still abounds.
Agriculture
• $1.75 million requested to mitigate
operational impacts at the Georgia Ag
Expo.
• $453,000 request to further advance
industrial hemp licensing.
K/12 Education
• FTE student counts are down 36,000
since last year, mostly in lower grades.
• Governor’s budget proposes adding
over $600 million back to the QBE for
mula.
Augusta University
• AU started a program to teach coding
to rural K-12 students. I’m excited about
what this may mean for middle and high
school students in our area.
• The Georgia Cyber Center at AU
has assisted the Senate in tackling broad
band deployment hurdles. The Governor
has included $30 million to address rural
broadband and we think the Cyber Cen
ter’s work can help make these dollars go
even further.
Dept, of Corrections
• Through COVID-19, DOC has seen
a double digit percentage decrease in their
prisoner population.
• Turnover at DOC has been extreme
ly high and the Governor’s budget includes
a pay increase to help stem this.
Dept, of Transportation
• Vehicle travel counts are now up
close to pre-pandemic levels. They are at or
above pre-pandemic levels for our area of
the state.
Dept, of Family and Children Services
• Governor’s budget puts $4.5 million
into caseload growth for adoptions.
• The number of children in Georgia
Foster Care have fallen from 15,000 chil
dren in 2018 to 11,200 today, over a 25%
decrease!
While this week has been solely devot
ed to the budget, those not on the budget
committee began work on elections integ
rity matters. I expect you will see multiple
bills dropped on this topic next week and
will wait until we see their final draffs to
discuss them in more detail.
Many of you have also reached out to
me this week about COVID-19 vaccina
tions. The state does not have a stockpile of
the vaccine it distributes to others. Rather,
the state’s role is to order the vaccine di
rectly from the manufactures based on
medical provider requests. The Moderna
vaccine ships straight from the manufac
turer to packaging with a McKesson distri
bution center in Tennessee, then straight
to medical providers. The Pfizer vaccine
ships straight from the manufacturer in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, to medical provid
ers. The state has already cut restrictions to
allow more medical providers to give the
vaccine. Our biggest issue right now is get
ting enough of the vaccine to medical pro
viders. Some medical providers have never
received a shipment, while others have re
ceived more than they have currently used.
The Governor mentioned getting his pick
up truck to redistribute the oversupply of
some providers if not used quickly. We’re
working on this issue now.
In a radio broadcast this week, a con
stituent asked about Georgia’s high de
mand fields, where the state of Georgia
pays the full tuition for Georgia residents
who commit to studying fields deemed to
be in high demand in the Technical Col
lege System. To qualify for this program,
residents must be in good standing on all
student loans, not have previously exceed
ed the award limit for any HOPE program,
and maintain a 2.0 GPA while pursuing
their studies. These in-demand fields in
clude:
• Automotive Technology
• Certified Engineer Assistant
• Computer Programming
• Construction Technology
• Early Childhood Care and Education
• Health Science
• Logistics/Transportation Technology
• Practical Nursing
• Computer Technology
• Diesel Equipment Technology
• Electrical Lineman Technology
• Industrial Maintenance
• Movie Production Set Design
• Precision Manufacturing
More information on these programs
can be found on the Technical College
System of Georgia’s website- https://www.
tcsg.edu/free-tuition/.
I look forward to sharing more with
you next week and, as always, thank you for
allowing me to represent you in Atlanta.
Sen. Blake Tillery serves as Chairman of the
Senate Appropriations Committee. He
represents the 19th Senate District, which
includes Appling, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery,
Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, and Wheeler
counties and a portion of Liberty and Tattnall
counties. He can be reached by email at
blake.tillery@senate.ga.gov.
By Sen. Blake Tillery
(R-Vidalia)
Candidates
continued from page 1A
for managing the number
one corporate initiative
for healthcare costs, the
third largest expense for
the company. As a distin
guished leader, she led the
research and successful
implementation for four
on-site health centers in
Georgia, Indiana, Idaho
and Illinois, which was no
small feat.
Evans is married to
Lee, and they have two
children who are fully en
gaged in the Vidalia com
munity - public schools,
local sports, and various
extra-curricular activities
that make Vidalia a better
place. Evans and her fam
ily are active members of
Vidalia First United Meth
odist Church.
“My desire is to make
Vidalia even more attrac
tive to our next genera
tion than it already is - a
place of opportunity and
growth. Along with the
current Council, my vi
sion for Vidalia is to grow
our local job opportuni
ties, invest in infrastruc
ture and work to ensure
our community continues
to be safe and healthy. All
Vidalians should be proud
to call Vidalia home. My
desire is to keep it this way
by continued, self-sustain
able growth.”
Evans’s civic affilia
tions include: Downtown
Vidalia Association, Retail
Development commit
tee chair, 2000 Graduate
of Leadership Toombs-
Montgomery, Vidalia
Onion Festival volunteer,
2011 United Way Cam
paign Chair, 2011 Gradu
ate of Leadership Georgia,
2019 President of Lead
ership Georgia, Toombs
Montgomery Chamber
Board member, as well as
most recently served on
the local CVB Board.
Born and raised in
Toombs County, Spikes-
Williams is married to
Troy Williams, and they
have seven children and
five grandchildren. She is a
1994 graduate of Toombs
County High School and
a 1999 graduate of South
eastern Technical College.
She is the co-owner of
T.C. Williams Enterprises,
LLC, and is co-founder of
Becoming One Outreach
Ministries, Inc., for which
she serves as pastor.
She has served Vidalia
for over 16 years in vari
ous capacities including as
a diplomat for the Down
town Vidalia Association,
as a board member of the
Tri-County Entrepreneur
Support Team and as a
coach for Toombs-Mont-
gomery Leadership Par
ticipants. In conjunction
with the Area Resource
Center, she has distributed
supplies to the parents of
several hundred newborns
and awarded 13 scholar
ships highlighting the ef
fects of domestic violence
on the entire family.
“I have always been a
community servant and
the role as a city council-
woman will allow me to
serve in a greater capacity,”
Spikes-Williams said.
CONGRATULATIONS
^2020 People’s Bank
Employee of The Year
Peoples
Bank
2301 E 1st St., Vidalia, GA 30474 • 912-537-9900
299 West Liberty Ave., Lyons, GA 30436 • 912-526-8171
912-524-2000
www.ourpeoplesbank.com
