ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp gave an update on Georgia's effort to fight the coronavirus on Thursday. Kemp said Georgia's vaccination rate for the state has made a significant jump from the information released Wednesday.
He was joined by Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey around 11 a.m. in the North Wing of the Georgia State Capitol.
Kemp continued to encourage Georgians to speak with their doctors about the vaccine to get vaccinated. He also doubled down on the fact that he would not mandate them.
He also criticized the federal mandate from the Biden administration.
The booster shots were also a topic of discussion. Here's what Toomey had to say about them.
"These boosters are just for people who have received Pfizer, and I know that is really of concern for people who received J&J or Moderna," Toomey said.
She said she expects that will be coming in the upcoming weeks following CDC updates.
Toomey said that pregnant women have become a targeted demographic in an effort to keep themselves and their babies safe.
As of Sept. 29, 46% of eligible Georgians have yet to be vaccinated, 47% of eligible Georgians are fully vaccinated, and 7% of eligible Georgians are in between their first and second doses.
10,475,833 total vaccines have been administered to date; an increase of 22,485 from the previous day.
Georgia has more than 4,400 total confirmed cases of COVID cases as of Wednesday, but overall, the cases are declining. Georgia's weekly positivity rate is still around 11%.
Luckily, COVID patient numbers continue to fall each day. We're back down to just above 3,400 which is a lot lower than our latest peak.
Wednesday's COVID patient number represents about 20% of all patients in the state. The Center for Disease Control wants the percentage below that to ensure there's not a serious strain on our resources.