Although sponsors say it's aimed at preventing government overreach on COVID-19 vaccinations, a bill filed this week in the Georgia Senate would end the longstanding schedule of mandatory vaccinations for school-children.

Georgia recently has set records in numbers of infections reported daily. The current surge, ignited by the Omicron variant, has generated an extraordinary spread of the disease, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Georgia’s Public Health commissioner, told state lawmakers earlier Thursday. 

Researchers in the U.K. have the first estimates for how long a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine will last. The findings are mixed.

The new research affirms what many individuals had reported. But it also shows the changes to the menstrual cycle are mostly minor and brief, more akin to a sore arm than a dangerous reaction.

One out of every 100 people in Hancock County, Georgia, has been killed by COVID-19.

As kids return to school across the South, one major city is making them get vaccinated first.

As people begin to travel and gather for the holidays, experts are warning of a fifth wave of COVID-19 cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the omicron variant now accounts for most of the new coronavirus cases in Georgia.

Nearly 14% of all fully vaccinated adults 18 and older across the state have received a booster shot, according to CDC.

In a statement to students, faculty and staff, UGA President Jere Morehead and other members of the university’s leadership warned “please be aware that the federal government has defined covered employees and covered contractor workplaces broadly.”

With 44% of its population fully vaccinated, Georgia is running far behind the rest of the nation. For the state's Latino community, a population that has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, vaccination rates are even lower. The Rev. Irma Guerra, a Mexican immigrant and minister at Christ Church Episcopal in Norcross, has used her platform to be a vaccine evangelizer and to dispel some of the misinformation about the vaccine through social media, her pulpit and going door to door. 

Gov. Brian Kemp has invoked a nonexistent AIDS vaccine mandate in his recent arguments against mandates for COVID-19 vaccinations. 

Children generally fare much better than older adults if they contract COVID-19, but in rare cases they can become seriously ill. Sixteen Georgians under 18 have died from COVID-19 out of more than 21,000 deaths statewide, according to the state health department.

October marks the start of the annual flu season, which typically worsens as the mercury drops before ending around May. And with Georgia hospitals still packed with COVID-19 patients, a bad flu season could mean even more strain on already stressed health workers.

The "green pass" will show whether a person has been vaccinated, recently recovered from COVID, or tested negative for the virus. Workers failing to present a pass will be suspended without pay.

The president of the Medical Association of Georgia said Wednesday this flu season could be worse than last year’s, and again stressed the importance of getting both a flu and COVID-19 vaccine.