Cobb County to open up more vaccine appointments Friday

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County residents will have another opportunity to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Chris Jose is in Marietta, where another round of slots will go live at 5 p.m. Friday. Every week, more slots will open up on Friday at 5 p.m., county officials said.

The appointments are for next week at a mass vaccination location at Jim Miller Park. After the county health department’s website crashed on Monday, some seniors are worried they will be out of luck.

Ron Krieger went to the vaccination site on Thursday to try to figure out how soon he can sign up for an appointment.

[SPECIAL SECTION: COVID-19 Vaccine in Georgia]

“We’ve been trying for days and days and days,” Krieger said.

Jose checked the Cobb and Douglas Public Health website, and it says all appointments for the week of Jan. 11th are booked.

Dr. Janet Memark, the Cobb and Douglas Public Health Director, said the sign-up portal will not be available until more vaccines are.

“I do not release appointments without having vaccine,” Memark said, “because I think that’s awful to do to people.”

[LINK: Where to find the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia]

Memark said the department has 6,000 doses that are allocated for next week. The goal is to administer 1,000 shots a day at the park from Monday to Saturday.

“Hopefully, we’ll get more and more, and can release more and more appointments,” Memark said.

Jose asked if Memark thinks the website will be able to handle the mass traffic.

“There may be some ‘server busy’ (issues) because everybody is trying to get those appointments,” Memark said.

Memark said that the county will make a decision on how many appointment slots to open up based on how much vaccine comes in every week.

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Cobb public health director advises families to consider virtual learning She first made the statement during a COVID-19 update at the Cobb County board of commissioners meeting on Tuesday.