ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned that the severe and icy weather that moved through parts of the U.S. and into our state is now causing delays in shipping some COVID-19 vaccine here in Georgia.
The DeKalb County Board of Health said in a news release Tuesday that the vaccine shots will be delayed this week across that county due “to the winter weather systems impacting a major portion of the United States, and are being held until they can safely get through the supply chain.”
We contacted the state to see if the delays would be impacting more than just DeKalb County and the Department of Public Health confirmed the delays would be impacting all of Georgia.
DPH said the delays would depend on the type of vaccine. Currently, the Moderna vaccine is seeing the biggest delays.
ABC News confirmed at least 18 other states are being impacted. Those states include: Alabama, Florida Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
In DeKalb County, it said it is canceling some vaccination appointments for Wednesday because of the delays.
“As a result of this delay, second dose Moderna vaccinations, scheduled for Wednesday at our vaccination sites in Doraville and Stonecrest, are being cancelled will need to be rescheduled,” the county said.
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We’re checking in with other metro counties to see if they too will be rescheduling vaccine appointments over the next few days.
Chad Wasdin with The Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments said as of right now, they are not canceling any vaccine appointments.
“When we open appointments, we only make appointments available for the vaccine we have on hand. Second dose vaccines are prioritized before we open first-dose appointments to the public. Therefore, we have enough vaccine for the appointments we’ve made for this week,” Wasdin said.
“People will need to work with their provider to get their second dose re-scheduled and that will be dependent on when vaccine shipments resume,” Nancy Nydam with the Department of Public Health said.
In statements, UPS and FedEx both confirmed the weather was impacting their delivery networks.
“Although your location may not be impacted by weather, the movement of packages in the network may be impacted by weather conditions in other areas,” UPS said.
FedEx said it “experienced substantial disruptions at the Memphis hub last night due to winter weather conditions. Potential delays are possible for package deliveries across the U.S. with a delivery commitment of Feb. 16, 2021.”
Cox Media Group
