Political Rewind: As Vaccine Eligibility Grows, A Look Back (And Forward) At The COVID-19 Pandemic
Tuesday on Political Rewind:\xa0a pandemic year in review as we looked back\xa0at the devastating track of the coronavirus in Georgia. The pandemic dramatically shifted many lives in our state. More than 16,000 Georgian\xa0died of coronavirus-related illness, while\xa0 around\xa0one\xa0million people were infected by COVID-19.\n\nBut can we see the\xa0light at the end of the tunnel? Yesterday, eligibility for\xa0COVID-19 vaccine appointments\xa0were expanded to include a majority of Georgia adults. Residents 55 and older are now eligible for shots,\xa0as are adults with a wide range of serious illness.\n\nIn rural Georgia, meanwhile, the demand for vaccine is\xa0more muted. In response, Gov. Brian Kemp says supplies of COVID vaccinations\xa0may be shifted to larger population centers to meet demand.\xa0Our panel\xa0looked at the effectiveness of the state\u2019s vaccine rollout\xa0so far.\n\nThe state's handling of COVID-19 vaccinations received criticism after the Center for Disease Control listed Georgia among the least effective states for getting shots into arms.\n\nHealth journalist Keren Landman said the faulty rollout is the result of power public health infrastructure.\n\n"It's not bad people doing work badly; It is an underfunded system being underfunded," Landman said. "This is what happens when you do not\xa0fund an infrastructure for public health. I hope this will provoke Georgia and Georgians and to really prioritize funding a good public health program throughout the state in the future."\n\nAnd finally, our panel discussed the impact a year of social distancing and isolation has had on the mental health of children and adults.\n\nPanelists:\n\nDr. Harry Heiman \u2014 Physician and Professor, School of Public Health, Georgia State University\n\nDr. Keren Landman \u2014 Physician, Health and Medicine Journalist\n\nDr. Roy Reese \u2014 Psychologist and Director of Behavioral Health at Akoma Counseling and Consulting\n\nTamar Hallerman \u2014 Senior Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution