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COVID-19 Update
Due to a high volume of residents trying to arrange COVID-19 vaccination appointments online, North Georgia Health District (NGHD)’s server became overloaded and failed last week resulting in an inability to offer an online registration option as previously planned.
“We’re working on a solution and believe we’ll be able to restore at least some form of our online registration very soon,” NGHD Public Information Officer and Risk Communicator Jennifer King said.
An online registration form was later added to their website Friday, January 15, at http://nghd.org/pr/34-/1274-covid-19-vaccination-appointment-registration.html?fbclid=IwAR0g2t2xi4zvO7V7fgVK7Siir9HkLfFcu3kgx38aZUZ58-1DCqUTL2A05lM.
This form can only be used to make appointments for the first dose of the vaccine.
Residents can still schedule appointments at the Fannin County Health Department through the district’s Call Center via the hotline number, 1-888-881-1474, which is also experiencing high call volumes.
“We are asking people to please be patient if experiencing delays while trying to get through to the Call Center,” King said. “Our phone company reported that we’re receiving over 38,000 calls an hour, however, our dedicated Call Center operators are arranging thousands of appointments for vaccinations in our health district every day. We deeply apologize for anyone’s inconvenience when trying to reach the Call Center, but we want to assure that everyone who is eligible and is calling to be vaccinated at the Fannin County Health Department (if they live or work in Fannin County) will receive an appointment as quickly as possible.”
The Call Center’s hours are Monday through Friday from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The district is also recommending that residents who are eligible for the vaccine contact their private physicians to see if they provide COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Georgia Department of Health has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Locator for the state, which can be found online at https://dph.georgia.gov/locations/covid-vaccination-site. As of Friday, January 15, only two locations in Fannin County offered the vaccine – The Fannin County Health Department and Georgia Mountains Heath Services.