Blue Ridge, GA – This year’s DRIVE-THRU FLU SHOT CLINIC conducted by Fannin County Health Department is Thursday, September 23rd from 9 am to 4 pm at the Farmers Market in Blue Ridge! You’ll remain safely in your vehicle while driving through to get your flu shot from public health staff wearing COVID-19 protective gear. The shot is no cost if covered by one of several health plans. If paying out of pocket, the cost is still relatively low at $25 for regular flu vaccine and $65 for high dose flu vaccine for people aged 65 and older. Both vaccines guard against 4 different strains of flu. Cash, check, credit card, Medicare, Medicaid, Aetna Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Coventry, Humana and United Healthcare Insurance will be accepted. The Farmers Market is at 811 Summit Street, Blue Ridge, GA 30513. Call (706) 632-3023 for more information and log onto bit.ly/DriveThruBeatFlu_NorthGA about this and other Drive-thru Flu Shot Clinics being held this fall in North Georgia!

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North GA – In addition to the free COVID-19 Testing provided by MAKO Medical at drive-thru sites in Canton, Dalton and Ellijay, the service has now expanded to three new sites in North Georgia that operate one day a week. These added COVID-19 testing sites are in Blue Ridge, Chatsworth and Jasper, Georgia.

All MAKO Medical sites in North Georgia, including the new once-a-week locations, operate as follows:

Blue Ridge, GA – Still not vaccinated against COVID-19 and live in Fannin County? YOU now have an extra incentive to Get Vaccinated! The Fannin County Health Department will conduct a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic for Fannin County residents 12 and older at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds on Saturday, September 18 from 9 AM to Noon. The First 100 Fannin County residents who receive their First COVID-19 vaccination at the clinic will receive a $50 Gift Card redeemable at any Walmart! Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be administered at the clinic. Anyone age 12 to 17 must have parental consent to be vaccinated. The Kiwanis Fairgrounds is located at 124 Jones Street, Blue Ridge, GA 30513. NO Appointment is needed. Just walk right in! Eligible Fannin County residents are urged: Protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community from COVID-19 and the rapidly spreading Delta variant. Get Vaccinated at the September 18th COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds and be one of the first 100 to get your first dose so you can receive that extra “Thank You” with a  $50 Gift Card – accepted at all Walmart locations!

Funding for the gift cards was provided locally through private donations.

Log onto the North Georgia Health District website at www.nghd.org for more information about COVID-19 and about your local county health department. 

Click here to link to pdf of joint statement from Northwest Georgia health care facilities and Public Health:

NORTH GEORGIA – Safe, convenient, and protective, Drive-thru Flu Shot Clinics will roll out again in North Georgia, starting in September!

The Drive-thru Flu Shot Clinics, conducted by county health departments in the North Georgia Health District, are for people ages 18 and older and will allow residents to stay safely in their vehicles while health department staff wear COVID-19 protective gear to administer flu vaccinations. Clients driving through will also be required to wear a mask.

The Drive-thru Flu Shot Clinics are scheduled, as follows:

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

“The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. “While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated. Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.” 

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North GA – North Georgia Health District officials announced that public health departments in Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield counties will provide a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to certain patients with weakened immune systems.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised receive an additional dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccine at least 28 days after completion of the initial two doses. This recommendation does not include Johnson and Johnson vaccine recipients.

Eligible immunocompromising conditions for an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine include:

• Active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies
• Receipt of a solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy
• Receipt of CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy)
• Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
• Advanced or untreated HIV infection
• Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids (≥20mg prednisone or equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor-necrosis (TNF) blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory

Eligible patients must request a third dose of the vaccine, and to receive it, they may either provide documentation from their physician or self-attest to one of the medical conditions above by signing a consent form.

The vaccine is free, and no appointment is needed to receive COVID-19 vaccine at the county health departments in the North Georgia Health District; however, an appointment may be arranged, if desired, by calling ahead. Phone numbers and addresses for county health departments in North Georgia are available here on our home page.

NOTE:  THE 3RD COVID-19 VACCINE DOSE IS NOT THE SAME AS THE COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOT. THE 3RD DOSE OF PFIZER OR MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE IS ONLY FOR CERTAIN PEOPLE WITH WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEMS WHO MEET THE CONDITIONS LISTED ABOVE. THE TENTATIVE NATIONAL PLAN FOR COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOTS IS TO OFFER A BOOSTER TO ALL AMERICANS. PLEASE LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOSTER SHOT HERE.