Gov. Kemp expands criteria for who will get COVID-19 vaccinations in first phase

Governor Brian Kemp said Georgia will be expanding the criteria for who will receive the COVID-19 vaccine in group 1A.

Kemp made the announcement on WSB during our primetime special “COVID-19 Vaccine in Georgia.”

Kemp said the people allowed to now get the vaccine will include first responders and those over 65 years of age in certain parts of the state.

>>Watch a live stream of the news conference below.

On Thursday, Kemp held a news conference on expanding criteria for COVID-19 vaccinations.

“What we’re see(ing) happening right now in the metro area is we have a really high demand of health care workers wanting to get the vaccine, and we really have more people than supply. In rural parts of the state, we have more vaccine and less demand. So we want to expand the criteria to allow those areas to start vaccinating our law enforcement, firefighters, people that are age 65,” Kemp said.

The governor said he and Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey had a meeting Wednesday with Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to discuss the vaccine distribution.

>>Read more here.