At 16, Nicolas Montero is old enough to get vaccinated on his own in some parts of the country. But he had to try to get the jabs without his parents knowing, since they're opposed to the vaccine.
A new study finds the delta variant of the coronavirus hospitalized and killed far more people in rural parts of the state than in urban areas. Researchers say this provides further proof that vaccines mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
In his final days, Alim asked people not to visit him or his family due to rising COVID cases in his community. "Even in death he wanted to keep people and our family safe," says his son.
Public health and government officials sighed with relief when COVID-19 vaccinations came to Coastal Georgia last December. The first 84,000 doses were set aside for those working in health care, including Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the commissioner for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
She spoke after receiving her first shot, saying vaccination felt like the "light at the end of a tunnel" after a long, hard year.
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.
Scientists are still studying whether the deworming medicine could have any effect on COVID-19. But the frenzy over the drug has far more to do with politics than science. Here's how that happened.
Two top public health experts join Political Rewind to answer questions about the current COVID-19 surge. Does the latest data tell us we’ve reached the peak in new cases of COVID-19 in the state? Are hospitals still facing a care crisis?
Georgia faces its worst crisis of the pandemic, with more patients than ever before hospitalized for COVID-19. The state's also breaking records for the number of children in the hospital with the virus. As the delta variant tightens its grip on the state, the Georgia Today podcast gets a firsthand account of the situation inside Georgia's pediatric hospitals from Dr. Matthew Linam, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday may have, perhaps, made his most direct plea for Georgians to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
"I mean, the numbers do not lie; 95% of the people in the hospital with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated," Kemp told reporters during a news conference. "And I would urge you to do that. That is what we need to unite and focus on instead of having, you know, different mandates and all that."
While Chatham’s average is slightly higher rate than Georgia’s overall vaccine rate of 42%, it falls woefully short of the levels needed to achieve “herd immunity,” when enough of the population is vaccinated in order to protect those that can’t be, such as children and immunocompromised people.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is implementing new policies for its employees as the COVID-19 delta variant continues to take a toll on hospital systems across the country, including charging employees $200 per month if they fail to get vaccinated.
