Gift cards offered at Vaccine Clinic, free testing starts Thursday at Farmers Market
More reports of new positive cases, a decline in the virus in the school system, and increased efforts by health care officials to fight the virus all speak to the effects of COVID-19 in Fannin County this week.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), 259 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Fannin County during the two-week period ending Friday, September 10. This compared to 280 new cases in the two-week period ended September 3.
Fannin schools reported 24 new cases among students during the week ending September 10, compared to 33 the prior week. School staff cases dropped from six new cases to five during the same period.
Meanwhile, health care officials have announced two new efforts in the COVID-19 fight, one a clinic with a gift card incentive and the second a new testing site in Blue Ridge.
The Fannin County Health Department will give a $50 gift card to the first 100 Fannin County residents 12 and older who receive their first COVID-19 vaccination during a special Vaccine Clinic.
The clinic will be held Saturday, September 18, from 9 a.m. until noon at the Kiwanis Club of Blue Ridge Fairgrounds on Jones Street in Blue Ridge. No appointments are necessary.
The Pfizer COVID-19 will be administered and anyone ages 12 to 17 must have parental consent to receive the vaccine.
A press release from Jennifer King of the North Georgia Health District said the gift cards will be redeemable at any Walmart. Funding for the gift cards was provided locally through private donations.
“Protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community from COVID-19 and the rapidly spreading Delta variant. Get vaccinated,” the press release said.
The clinic comes as DPH figures as of September 10 show 9,447 Fannin County residents are fully vaccinated compared to 9,281 the week before. The increase during the same period for residents receiving one dose grew from 10,375 to 10,542.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Fannin County now stands at 2,867 with the death toll up three to 76.
The same day the Vaccine Clinic was announced, the DPH announced MAKO Medical is expanding its drive-thru testing sites in North Georgia to include a site in Fannin County.
Beginning Thursday, September 16, and continuing every Thursday, tests will be given at the Farmers Market in Blue Ridge from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. This is a free PCR test done by nasal swab to determine the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19, the DPH said.
DPH urges anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms or has been in close contact recently with an infected person to be tested, even if they have been vaccinated.
There are no eligibility requirements to be tested other than having a Georgia driver’s license and registering online at https://mako.exchange/splash/GAmakotesting/.