COVID-19 vaccine rollout creeps ahead in Georgia amid limited supplies

Gov. Brian Kemp (right) gives an update on Georgia’s vaccine rollout with state Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey (left) on Jan. 26, 2021. (Photo by Beau Evans)

Georgia has not yet reached the halfway point in giving first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the roughly 2 million people currently eligible more than a month after the state’s distribution program began, Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday.

The number of shots administered to Georgia health-care workers, nursing home residents and staff, first responders and people ages 65 and older has gone up in recent weeks after a halting mid-December start, Kemp said at a news conference in the state Capitol.

Kemp’s office announced Tuesday night the Biden administration will start allocating Georgia an additional roughly 25,000 vaccine doses per week. That will increase Georgia’s current weekly allotment to 145,900 doses, Kemp’s office said – an amount still lagging far behind the millions of doses needed to halt the virus’ spread.

“Although we still expect demand to far exceed supply for the foreseeable future, this is no doubt welcome news, and we will work around the clock to get these vaccines distributed and safely administered as quickly as possible,” Kemp said in a statement Tuesday night.

Kemp had earlier on Tuesday said his office did not know when the federal government would allocate more vaccine doses, saying he had not yet spoken directly with the new Biden administration and that he did not expect Georgia’s weekly allotment “to change certainly for the next few weeks.”

As of Monday, nearly 714,000 vaccines had been administered to the initial round of Georgians eligible to receive them, said state Public Health Director Dr. Kathleen Toomey. Health departments across the state have enough vaccines to schedule second doses for people who have received their first, she said.

More than 99% of the state’s nursing homes have also been supplied vaccines through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, Kemp said. He has set a goal to vaccinate all of Georgia’s nursing home residents and staff by the end of this month.

But limited shipments from the federal government have kept state officials so far from expanding which Georgians can be eligible for the vaccine to school teachers and other at-risk groups such as those with developmental disabilities, Toomey said.

“All this is dependent on the availability of vaccine,” Toomey said at Tuesday’s news conference.

Vaccine providers have also met resistance from some nursing homes and hospitals where people have refused to take the vaccine. Kemp said some nursing homes saw up to 70% of staff refuse the vaccine early on during the rollout, while as many as 50% of employees in some hospitals refused it.

“I think they should get it,” Kemp said. “That was one of the reasons that we expanded the criteria … to people 65 and older.”

The governor added officials are creating a statewide vaccine scheduling and tracking tool as local health departments field a flood of calls for the few available appointments, but more work is needed before that tool can go online.

“Doing that prematurely could be disastrous,” Kemp said.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalizations and positive case rates from COVID-19 has fallen in recent days amid a rough winter spike that began in November, Kemp said. He urged Georgians to continue wearing masks, washing hands and keeping their distance from others despite the downward trend.

“We cannot take the improving numbers we’re seeing for granted,” Kemp said.

More than 722,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Georgia as of Monday afternoon, with nearly 150,000 more reported positive antigen tests indicating likely positive results. The virus has killed 11,854 Georgians.

This story was updated to note Kemp’s office announced late Tuesday the Biden administration will start allocating Georgia an additional roughly 25,000 vaccine doses per week.

Georgia House member booted from floor for refusing COVID-19 test

State Rep. David Clark (R-Buford) speaks to reporters without a mask after being ejected from the Georgia House floor on Jan. 26, 2021. (Photo by Beau Evans)

ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker David Ralston ejected a Gwinnett County lawmaker from the House floor Tuesday for refusing to take a COVID-19 test.

Rep. David Clark, R-Buford, hasn’t taken a single test for the virus since the 2021 General Assembly convened on Jan. 11, a violation of rules the House adopted at the start of the session, said Kaleb McMichen, Ralston’s spokesman. The rule requires lawmakers to undergo testing twice a week, whether or not they are at the Georgia Capitol.

“I don’t know how long [the coronavirus pandemic] is going to last,” Ralston declared from the House rostrum. “But it behooves us to do whatever we can to be safe … rather than go out there and get media attention for standing up to authority.”

Speaking with reporters after being escorted off the House floor by Capitol Police, Clark accused Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, of overstepping his authority to limit members of the House from being present in the chamber. He also said the General Assembly’s COVID-19 testing program lacks teeth and is there for show rather than any effective safety practice.

“It’s dumb how we’re doing things telling everybody to do tests to make everybody feel comfortable,” Clark told reporters while not wearing a mask.

Clark and Ralston have clashed in the past. Clark introduced a resolution two years ago calling on the speaker to resign, charging Ralston – a lawyer – with abusing his power by taking advantage of legislative leave policies to delay court cases on behalf of clients accused of various violent crimes.

The flap led to the passage of legislation tightening the rules governing when a legislator who is a lawyer can obtain a delay in a case citing his or her legislative duties.

On Tuesday, Ralston said he’s simply looking out for the health and safety of House members during a pandemic that has killed nearly 12,000 Georgians.

“I’ve been to too many funerals,” he said. “I get tired of going to them.”

While Ralston was enforcing the COVID-19 testing rule in the House, Georgia Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan returned to the upper legislative chamber Tuesday after quarantining since testing positive two weeks ago. He urged lawmakers to comply with the twice-weekly testing requirement both the House and Senate have adopted.

“You’re all too valuable to have someone slip up and pass on [the virus] unknowingly,” Dugan, R-Carrollton, said from the Senate floor.

McMichen said Clark will be allowed to return to the House chamber upon complying with the testing policy.

Container cargo at Port of Savannah finishes 2020 strong despite pandemic

Port of Savannah

ATLANTA – The Georgia Ports Authority Monday reported modest growth for 2020 despite the economic slowdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Port of Savannah moved more than 4.68 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) last year, up 1.8 percent over its 2019 total of 4.59 million. Total cargo crossing all docks in 2020 reached 38.4 million tons.

The growing container trade in Savannah during the last five months of the year followed five consecutive months of lower volumes.

In fact, the Port of Savannah achieved its busiest December ever, handling 447,525 TEUs, an increase of 24% over December 2019.

“Savannah’s capacity to take on additional trade as well as its diversified cargo portfolio – including ecommerce and strong export markets – helped to drive business gains,” said Griff Lynch, the ports authority’s executive director.

“Additionally, a housing boom has translated into strong demand for furniture, appliances and other home goods crossing our docks,” he said. “We remain optimistic that the conditions for growth will continue, but it is too early to know if the pace of cargo expansion will carry on as it has.”

During a time when manufacturers around the world were shuttering plants, Georgia exports held steady over the calendar year at 2.3 million TEUs. Export container volumes were led by food, forest products, cotton, clay, automotive goods and chemicals.

The Port of Savannah maintained a near-even trade balance of 51% import and 49% export, rare for the industry.

While the container trade ended 2020 in positive territory, the auto industry was harder hit, with both manufacturing and sales experiencing a difficult year related to the pandemic.

As a result, Roll-on/Roll-off cargo for 2020 at the Port of Brunswick fell by 8% to 602,748 units.

However, momentum has increased in recent months, with Ro/Ro trade between August and December up 15,000 units compared to the same period in 2019.

Board of Regents announces national search for new chancellor

University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley

ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia will conduct a national search for a successor to retiring Chancellor Steve Wrigley, the system announced Monday.

Seven members of the system’s Board of Regents will form an advisory group to help with the search. The group will  be chaired by Regent Kessel D. Stelling Jr., chairman and CEO of Columbus-based Synovus.

The group will work with the Atlanta-based firm Parker Executive Search to put in place a search process that will include input gathered during listening sessions and from a publicly accessible website.

Wrigley announced earlier this month that he will step down on July 1 after 36 years in public service, including more than four years as chancellor.

Joining Stelling on the advisory committee will be Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra and regents Erin Hames, C. Everett Kennedy III, Neil L. Pruitt Jr., Sarah-Elizabeth Langford-Reed and Harold Reynolds.

The chancellor search website will be linked to the university system’s homepage and can be found at https://www.usg.edu/chancellor_search/.

Kettle Creek Battlefield wins National Park Service designation

Kettle Creek Battlefield

ATLANTA – The Kettle Creek Battlefield in Wilkes County is now an “affiliated area” of the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Rep Jody Hice, R-Greensboro, announced Monday.

Then-Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt approved the designation earlier this month, marking a commitment by the federal government to preserve the Revolutionary War site for future generations.

“This is an enormous win for all of us who have spent years working toward this goal,” Hice said in a statement. “Kettle Creek Battlefield [will] finally receive the recognition it deserves.”

The battle at Kettle Creek on Feb. 14, 1779, was the first major victory for Patriot forces in Georgia, showing conclusively that the British could never pacify the South’s frontier backcountry.

Efforts to have Kettle Creek Battlefield designated a national park date back nearly a century. U.S. Sen. Richard Russell of Georgia was among those who pushed for acquisition of the property.

Hice introduced legislation directing the Interior Department to conduct a study of the battlefield. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill last month.

Affiliated areas are a designation within the National Park Service referring to sites that may be recognized by Congress and may receive federal assistance but typically are owned and administered primarily by nonfederal entities.

Groups that worked to make the designation a reality for the Kettle Creek Battlefield include the Kettle Creek Battlefield Association, the Georgia Battlefields Association and Georgia Piedmont Land Trust and the Watson-Brown Foundation. Wilkes County also was involved.

Supporters hosted NPS Acting Director Dan Smith on a tour of the site back in May 2019.