As Len McCook and his staff were delivering some of the first COVID-19 vaccines in Bulloch County, he kept thinking, “After all these many hard and tragic months, for the first time, I see some real light at the end of the tunnel.”

Wednesday evening, McCook and several members of his team at McCook’s Pharmacy inoculated a total of about 50 residents and staff at Southern Manor Senior Living on Fair Road in Statesboro.

And, like McCook, Southern Manor co-owner and CEO Ralph Cowart sees the vaccine as a true first step towards a return to life before COVID.

“This vaccine is life saving for the population that we serve,” Cowart said. “It will allow our organization to care for our residents more easily while still using contact precautions. All residents and staff will be strongly encouraged to be vaccinated. We are still unsure what normal or the ‘new normal’ will look like, but the safety of our residents and staff remain our greatest concern.”

The roll out of the Pfizer vaccine last week, joined by the Moderna vaccine this week, is coming amidst the deadliest time of the pandemic across the nation and is infecting Georgians at the highest rate since it began in March.

While Bulloch County has not seen the heavy number of positive cases recorded in late August when new daily cases exceeded 100 on several occasions, Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Wynn said a number of disturbing trends are popping up.

“Our EMS has transported more COVID-symptom patients in the last two weeks than we did the previous two months,” Wynn said. “In one recent three-day period they transported 15 patients with COVID-symptoms. We don’t know if they ultimately were diagnosed with COVID, but they had serious symptoms. We treat all we transport as positive. EMS is a good barometer about what could be coming and that concerns me greatly.”

Wednesday, Bulloch reported 25 new cases, Wynn said, and, on Tuesday, recorded its first death due to COVID in more than a month. Wynn said a 64-year-old woman with no comorbidities became Bulloch’s 36th overall victim.

The vaccine

The Bulloch County Department of Health received its first shipment of “a limited number of vaccines” on Monday and began enoculating staff Wednesday, said Katie Hadden, public information officer for the Southeast Health District, which includes Bulloch.

She said staff at the local office received vaccinations Wednesday and other area health care workers did, as well.

Wynn said he received his shot Wednesday and he hoped others in the various Public Safety departments would also want to get the vaccination.

“From my viewpoint as Public Safety director, I wanted to set the right example to all our employees in the 911 office, EMS, fire and all departments and publically get the vaccine,” Wynn said. “EMS Director Doug Vickers and I did that that so, hopefully, all our employees will feel comfortable it’s safe and will do the same.

“I believe the vaccine is safe and I believe it’s really the only way that our country can begin to get back to some normalcy if a significant portion of the population gets vaccinated.”

Wynn said the Public Safety Department is working with Forest Heights Pharmacy in offering the vaccine to employees.

Forest Heights owner and pharmacist Ben Ross said the pharmacy received its vaccine order Wednesday morning. The pharmacy is working on first vaccinating health care workers and residents in long-term care facilities, in accordance with Georgia Department of Health guidelines.

Who gets the vaccine first?

Georgia has developed priority groups based on a four-phase plan created with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that prioritizes those at the highest risk for COVID-19.

Under Phase 1A, vaccinations are being offered to patient-facing health care workers at hospitals and public health clinics, emergency medical staff, and some other first responders and residents of long-term care facilities.

The focus will then shift to a select group of essential workers at high risk of contracting COVID-19, who are part of Phase 1B. Examples of this group include police and firefighters, employees at grocery stores and food processing plants, educational faculty and support staff and mass transit workers.

The next stage, Phase 1C, covers most of Georgia’s estimated 1.5 million people age 65 and older. Those with underlying medical conditions and their caregivers are prioritized ahead of healthy Georgians age 65 and older. That’s followed by people under age 65 with co-morbidities. 

The state’s plan hasn’t yet been updated to include recent recommendations from a CDC advisory panel that states include adults 75 and older in Phase 1B. The recommendations, which are expected to be adopted by the CDC, also say that states’ plans for Phase 1C should include adults between ages 65 and 74 and people between ages 16 and 64 with serious medical conditions.

The final two phases of Georgia’s plan will depend on increased vaccine supplies. Phase 2 zeroes in on a broader category of so-called critical populations, defined as those working and living in homeless shelters, prisons, detention centers, and other community settings. Next are adults between the ages of 31 and 64. Phase 3 incorporates workers deemed important to the functioning of society, such as hairstylists, restaurant and bar staff, and adults ages 18 to 30.

The fourth and final phase will open up immunizations to the public.

More vaccine coming to Bulloch

McCook said the Department of Public Health let him know Wednesday that he should receive more vaccine in a few days. The residents and staff at Southern Manor will need to receive a second dose of the vaccine in four weeks to give them the fullest protection against the virus. Also, McCook’s team will inoculate the rest of the staff at Southern Manor who did not receive a vaccine Wednesday.

“We were approved to place an order for vaccine a few weeks ago,” McCook said. “We decided to request the Moderna vaccine because it is easier to store.

“I received notice Tuesday that the shipment was on its way, but there was no indication of how many doses I would receive or when. (Wednesday) morning, a UPS driver in a U-Haul truck pulled up to the pharmacy and dropped off a package of vaccines. It was not our full order, but I am so relieved it is here.”

Hadden said that no schedule has been announced for when more vaccine would be shipped to Bulloch, but she anticipates more soon. Also, other pharmacies and health care centers are expected to receive COVID vaccines soon. East Georgia Regional Medical Center has not received any vaccine as of Wednesday and Erin Spillman, director of Marketing for the hospital, said East Georgia has not been told when it may get vaccine. 

“It sounds like things are beginning to pick up speed a little bit in distributing more vaccine around the state,” Wynn said.

“However, even in the light of getting a vaccination, we must continue to observe proper safety protocols,” Wynn said. “It is our responsibility to still wear our masks, observe social distancing and avoid large indoor gatherings. Once that significant number of people get vaccinated, things will really start changing for the better then.”