Wellstar Health System issued the following press release about the high demand for COVID-19 vaccine among residents 65+ years of age, and reported that 10,000 that patients have registered for vaccination within their system.
The press release follows:
Marietta, Ga. (January 11, 2021) — Wellstar Health System, one of Georgia’s largest and most integrated healthcare systems, has successfully scheduled the first 10,000 COVID vaccinations for Wellstar Primary Care patients age 65 and older following Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) guidelines to expand the Phase 1A COVID-19 vaccination program.
The expansion of the eligible vaccination criteria for the current
phase was announced by Georgia DPH on December 30 with the goal of accelerating vaccinations for populations most at risk of exposure, transmission, and severity of disease.
A not-for-profit system with 11 hospitals across Georgia, Wellstar intends to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to every Wellstar patient following the phased approach outlined by health authorities as more vaccines and appointment slots become available.
When: Over the weekend, Wellstar patients began to receive notification of the process for vaccination appointments for the initial 10,000 vaccines allocated to Wellstar Primary Care patients age 65 and older.
Scheduled vaccinations for this group began Monday, January 11, and will carry on for the coming days, weeks, and months as the DPH-led roll-out continues with additional vaccine deliveries.
What: The initial phase of patient vaccinations offered current Wellstar Primary Care patients 65 years of age and older the option to schedule an appointment to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Appointments for Wellstar patients in this group have already been filled due to significant demand for the COVID-19 vaccine, however additional time slots will be added to the MyChart scheduling portal as more vaccines are delivered.
Wellstar patients are encouraged to visit the Wellstar MyChart scheduling tool to view new dates, times, and locations for vaccinations as they are added. For the most updated information, please call 470-956-7000 for a recorded message or visit www.wellstar.org.
Community Resources: For those people in the community who are not Wellstar Primary Care patients or who would like to explore vaccine scheduling options, the Georgia DPH has launched a COVID-19 vaccination site location tool (https://dph.georgia.gov/locations/covid-vaccination-site) that allows users to search for vaccine providers across the state.
DPH vaccine supply is very limited.
The public is encouraged to contact their public health departments directly to schedule an appointment.
