The Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday voted to spend $2M in federal CARES Act funding to create a COVID-19 vaccination call center.
The center will provide updated information to the public about COVID-19 guidance and will allow citizens to schedule vaccine appointments.
The only commissioner to vote against in a 4-1 vote was Keli Gambrill of North Cobb, who said she hasn’t seen sufficient data showing that the call center software is effective.
JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb, who recently received her second dose of the vaccine, said “we’re still getting a lot of calls and e-mails” about how to get vaccines from the public that are being left with a variety of county agencies.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid noted that the most vulnerable to COVID-19 are older people who are “less likely to be familiar with technology and most frustrated” at having to go online for information and to book appointments.
“We have some responsibility to make sure our vaccinations are accessible in Cobb,” Cupid said. “There are some things we need to get in front of.”
Cobb and Douglas Public Health launched a website in January as the vaccine rollout began, but it crashed initially and citizens expressed frustrations booking online or not having technology access to do so.
Dr. Janet Memark, the director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, told commissioners that having a call center is an important step as vaccine eligibility expands, and as variants of the virus are still in the community.
During an earlier briefing, she said that more than 143,000 doses of the vaccines have been administered in Cobb. There have been more then 170 cases of a British variant, the B.1.1.7, but said that’s likely a “huge undercount” due to limited testing.
Another COVID-19 variant that originated in South Africa also has been detected in Georgia, and she said there are three confirmed cases in the state.
Cobb’s COVID transmission rate continues a major decline, with a 14-day average of 356 cases per 100,000 for PCR and Antigen tests combined.
The PCR community spread metric is 197, the lowest it’s been since the fall. But since 100 cases per 100,000 is considered “high community spread,” the current numbers are “still extremely high.”
Memark and Lisa Crossman, the deputy director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, said they were encouraged by CDC guidelines issued Monday for fully vaccinated people visiting safely with others.
They include relaxing mask-wearing and social-distancing habits in some instances.
“We see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Crossman said, adding that when she read through the guidelines it “almost brought tears of joys to my eyes.
“This gives a lot of hope to our seniors who’ve been isolated for the last year.”
Cobb has 873 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 56,276 cases since last March. The 7-day moving average is 152 new cases as of Tuesday (compared to 526 on Jan. 13, a single-day high).
Crossman still urged citizens to continue to wear masks and socially-distance in public, and when people become eligible for the vaccine, to sign up.
“Whatever brand of vaccine you have access to, please get it,” Crossman said.
Related stories
- Cobb schools make calendar changes for staff vaccinations
- Cobb COVID death toll surpasses 800; nearly 200 in East Cobb
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