Georgia Coastal Health District

Atlanta – The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) will begin offering the new bivalent COVID-19 booster this week, as shipments of the vaccine arrive in the state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommend the bivalent booster manufactured by Pfizer for individuals aged 12 and older; and they recommend the bivalent booster by Moderna for adults aged 18 and older.

The current COVID booster doses contain the genetic recipe for the original strain of COVID-19. The bivalent vaccine contains the genetic recipes for two versions of COVID-19; the original strain, plus the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, offering better protection against the currently circulating COVID-19 variants. People should wait at least two months after completing their initial vaccination or their last booster shot before getting the bivalent booster.

At this time, the bivalent vaccine is considered only a booster. It is not to be used as the initial two-dose COVID vaccine. The monovalent mRNA CVOID-19 vaccines will still be administered for the primary series of vaccine and as a booster for children under the age of 12.

Georgia is currently seeing an average of 3,000 cases of COVID reported a week. More than 89% of newly reported COVID cases are caused by the BA.5 variant. Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID continue to decrease in the state. 

In addition to vaccination and boosters, basic prevention measures should also be followed to help prevent further spread of COVID and mitigate outbreaks of infection, especially in public settings: wear a mask, physically distance, and wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

A new type of COVID-19 vaccine is now available in the Coastal Health District. The Novavax shot is the fourth COVID vaccine to be cleared by the FDA in the U.S., and relies on an older, more familiar vaccine technology. Novavax is a two-dose vaccine and is available in the health departments in Chatham and Glynn Counties, and in the Richmond Hill clinic of the Bryan County Health Department.

“Novavax is a great option for adults who want vaccine protection but aren’t comfortable using mRNA vaccines like the ones offered by Pfizer and Moderna,” said Dr. Lawton Davis, Health Director of the Coastal Health District. “The Novavax vaccine uses the same technology as several other vaccines we’ve been using in the United States for decades, like vaccines for hepatitis B, influenza, and whooping cough.”

The Novavax shot uses a protein-based technology, injecting harmless copies of the coronavirus’ spike protein alongside an ingredient called adjuvant to create an immune response. The vaccine is safe and effective, and during clinical trials, it prevented mild, moderate, and severe COVID illness in 90% of adults aged 18 and older. The most commonly reported side effects were similar to other vaccines and included pain/tenderness, redness and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, joint pain, nausea/vomiting and fever.

There is no out-of-pocket cost for vaccination. Appointments for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine can be scheduled online at chdcovidvax.org, or by calling the Chatham, Glynn, or Bryan County Health Departments.

The COVID-19 Moderna vaccine for children ages six months to five years will be available at the Liberty County Health Department beginning Tuesday, July 19. The health department provides COVID-19 vaccines every Tuesday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. for all who are eligible. Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are encouraged. Appointments can be scheduled at chdcovidvax.org or by calling the health department at 912-876-2173.

While children and adolescents are typically at lower risk than adults of becoming severely ill or hospitalized from COVID-19, it is still possible. COVID-19 has become one of the top 10 causes of pediatric death, and tens of thousands of children and teens have been hospitalized with COVID-19.

Side effects to the COVID-19 vaccines are typically mild and subside in one to two days — like soreness in the arm, fatigue, headaches, or a slight fever. You do not have to be a local resident to receive the vaccine at the Liberty County Health Department. There is no out-of-pocket cost for the vaccination regardless of insurance status.

For more information on public health COVID-19 vaccination opportunities in the Coastal Health District, please visit chdcovidvax.org.

Over the counter COVID-19 test kits are convenient and offer quick results, and now they’re available for free at your local county health department in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh Counties. The tests, also called at-home tests or self-tests, can be taken anywhere, and work whether or not you have symptoms. The rapid antigen tests give results in just a few minutes and do not need to be dropped off at a laboratory.

[JPG, 178.57 KB]

“Testing is a valuable tool for protecting our communities,” said Dr. Lawton Davis, Health Director of the Coastal Health District. “It’s a good idea to take a COVID test if you start having symptoms, if you’ve been in close contact with someone with COVID-19, or if you’re going to gather with a group of people and want to make sure you’re not infected. We’re excited to increase access to these at-home tests, making them available for free to everyone in our communities.”

To get a free at-home test kit, visit one of the local county health departments or CARE centers in the 8-county Coastal Health District and request a test kit. Household limits apply. You do not have to provide health insurance information and no ID checks are required.

Click here for more information about how to use a self-test kit and what to do if you test positive.

The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is announcing the allocation of Merck and Pfizer oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 to select retail pharmacies in Georgia. Initial supply of Molnupiravir and Paxlovid™ from the federal government is very limited. DPH anticipates additional allocations in the coming weeks as production increases.

Per guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), initial allocations were made to federal pharmacy partners. DPH has partnered with Walmart, Walgreens, and Good Neighbor Pharmacy Group (a group of small independent pharmacies) to ensure coverage across the state. Pharmacies currently allocated treatments can be found on the DPH website at https://dph.georgia.gov/dph-covid-19-guidance.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for Molnupiravir by Merck and an emergency use authorization for Paxlovid™ by Pfizer as oral antiviral treatments of COVID-19. Early studies indicate these treatments may reduce severe outcomes from COVID-19 including hospitalization or death. The antivirals are recommended for treatment of individuals who are at high risk for severe COVID-19 or have underlying medical conditions. Both drugs require a prescription and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset.

While antivirals may help treat COVID-19, vaccination is the best prevention against COVID infection. Georgians aged 5 and older are eligible for vaccination. Georgians 16 and older are eligible for boosters six months after completing their primary vaccine series of either Moderna or Pfizer (only Pfizer is authorized for booster doses in 16- and 17- year-olds) and two months after their J&J vaccine. For COVID vaccination opportunities by the Coastal Health District, visit chdcovidvax.org.

Basic prevention measures should also be followed to help prevent further spread of COVID and mitigate outbreaks of infection, especially in public settings: wear a mask, physically distance, and wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

Due to increased demand for COVID-19 testing, the public health testing sites in Chatham and Glynn counties will be open on Friday, December 31^st.

The Chatham County testing site on the Georgia Tech Savannah Campus located at 210 Technology Circle will be open from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The Glynn County testing located at 3011 Kemble Avenue (in the parking lot across from the Emergency Care Center of Southeast Georgia Health System) will be open from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

There is no cost for COVID-19 testing through public health. It is crucial that people pre-register for testing at public health testing sites to help the specimen collection site process move smoothly. Pre-registration only takes a couple of minutes and helps prevent back-ups at testing sites. To pre-register for a COVID-19 test, visit coastalhealthdistrict.org/covidtest or call our COVID-19 Testing Call Center which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday. The Testing Call Center number is 912-230-9744.

For updated information on COVID-19 testing and vaccination, please visit our website at https://covid19.gachd.org.