Georgia

‘Very unfair’: Lawmakers react to decision to suspend vaccines to provider who vaccinated teachers

ELBERT COUNTY, Ga — A North Georgia medical provider remains on a six-month suspension from receiving COVID-19 vaccines after it admitted it vaccinated teachers not in the 1A-Plus group.

The Department of Public Health (DPH) suspended the vaccine allotments for the Medical Center of Elberton after it admitted to vaccinating teachers, a violation of state policy. The teachers were vaccinated because the medical center feared the vaccines might expire and they didn’t want them to go to waste, according to the center administrators. The Medical Center of Elberton is the county’s main provider of the vaccine, though it is not the only provider. Other providers will still receive vaccine allotments.

Thursday, there was swift condemnation of the six-month suspension at the State Capitol. Elbert County State Representative Ron Leverett called the decision unfair.

“I think it’s a terrible ruling,” Leverett said. “I think it’s unfair, very unfair to the Medical Center. And I think it’s unnecessarily punitive to the citizens of Elbert County who desperately need the vaccine.”

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According to Leverett, he believed the decision to vaccinate teachers was a “miscommunication” and a “misunderstanding.” He said he is working with the governor’s office and DPH to see if they can change the ruling to make the punishment more proportional. House Speaker David Ralston also said he was working to provide assistance to the people of Elbert County but also stressed the medical center did violate policy.

“You hate to see an entire community be punished for the actions of a few,” Ralston said. “I think it was well-intentioned, but it was inconsistent with policy that we’ve tried to maintain across the state.”

State Representative Jasmine Clark of Gwinnett County believes teachers should be included in the 1A-Plus group.

“I think it’s extremely misguided, and it is an overreaction,” Clark said. “Honestly, if you were asking me and a number of people in this building, teachers should have been in phase 1A.”

The governor’s office had no comment on the suspension. The Department of Public Health was expected to release a statement sometime Thursday.