Kemp says vaccine distribution increased by around 80% this week

ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that as of Saturday night, nearly 400,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 across the state.

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

The state has administered 393,970 vaccines, with nearly 200,000 of those given out since Monday. Kemp said that represents around an 80% increase in vaccinations since Monday.

Kemp said 22,871 vaccines were administered Saturday alone and that 42.5% of shipped vaccines have been administered.

[SPECIAL SECTION: COVID-19 Vaccine in Georgia]

Nearly 1 million vaccines have been shipped to the state as of Saturday.

Kemp opened up vaccines for people ages 65 and older on Monday. The state has been criticized for it’s slow rollout, which was exacerbated by problems with county websites and phone systems crashing in the crush for people to get vaccines.

Earlier this week, a News and World Report ranked Georgia among the lowest in number of people vaccinated by state, finding that fewer than 1.3% of the population had been vaccinated.

Kemp disputed that claim, saying that health departments were behind in reporting.

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