Forsyth County hosts mass COVID-19 vaccination event

Hundreds of people rolled up their sleeves Monday to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Forsyth County.

It was the second mass vaccination event they’ve had in the past week.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Coronavirus Pandemic in Georgia]

“We’ve been looking forward to it because we’re both at that age that puts us in that early group I should say,” said resident Jerry Van.

The health department told Channel 2′s Tom Regan that nearly 7,000 people in Forsyth County have received their first vaccine dose.

They said it’s mass vaccination clinics like Monday’s at First Redeemer Church that are helping drive those numbers up.

Scott Kennedy is one of the firefighters and EMTs that helped administer the vaccine.

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“A lot of people who come in haven’t been out of their house in months, and this gives them the opportunity and confidence to go out again,” Kennedy said.

He told Regan that it’s a nice change from running on emergency calls to helping vaccinate against COVID.

“The cool think about it is now we are able to be a little proactive instead of reactive,” Kennedy said.

The District 2 Health Department, which encompasses 13 northeast Georgia counties including Forsyth, said so far nearly 39,000 have received a virus vaccine shot.

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Northside Hospital is helping administer the shots.

“We usually know 24 hours in advance exactly how much we will have,” said Lynn Jackson with Northside Hospital.

At Monday’s clinic, they planned to administer over 750 shots. Each tiny Pfizer vial holds more vaccine than you’d expect.

“Now they are saying six or seven does. Everything we have been able to get out of the vial we give to patients, so that’s been great,” said Kerry Hobbs with Northside Hospital.

Northside Hospital says they will be staging a couple more vaccine clinics this week and beginning to administer second shots next week.

9% of Americans have gotten COVID-19 vaccine so far, prompting criticism from metro health experts That is over the course of nearly a two-month span. At that rate, it would take another year and a half to vaccinate everyone.

Cox Media Group