August 25, 2021 Update

FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine

On August 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older.

The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

“The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. “While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated. Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”

COVID-19 Cases, Admissions, Deaths & Vaccinations in Athens-Clarke County

Clarke County School District COVID-19 Dashboard

To provide additional clarity and real-time data regarding the number of cases of COVID in Clarke County School District (CCSD) schools, a CCSD COVID-19 Dashboard is available on the district website containing automatic hourly updates.

The CCSD COVID-19 Dashboard displays positive cases in the past 14 days and 30 days across the district and by each school, with hourly updates.

Previously, data was reported in 7-day increments and was only updated each Friday.
This new 14-day window provides more school-level data, as those numbers are typically too small to report in 7-day increments.

Precautionary quarantines will continue to be reported at the district level; however, it will now show the total percentage of students and staff combined to provide additional context for the data.

A graph of monthly counts illustrates trends at both the school and district levels.

The dashboard is available through the CCSD website at clarke.k12.ga.us (directly at https://analytics.zoho.com/open-view/2089492000003337273)

Positive UGA COVID-19 Tests Reported Through DawgCheck - (Aug. 16-22)

The University of Georgia DawgCheck tool gives members of the campus community the ability to self-monitor and to facilitate information sharing internally and with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). Any student or employee with a positive COVID-19 test is required to report the test in DawgCheck.

For the week of August 16, there were 231 reported positive COVID-19 tests through DawgCheck.

Last Five Weeks of Tests

Visit the UGA Health Center website with these graphs and other updates.

The table above reflects the total number of positive test results reported through DawgCheck each week. It is updated every Wednesday. Please note the following:

Positive tests reported through DawgCheck are from any of the approximately 50,000 faculty, staff, and students connected to the University of Georgia, whether located in Athens, extended campuses, extension offices across the state, or even other states and countries for students who elected to take online classes.
The totals may include reports from individuals who have not been on campus recently, there may be delays in reporting, and the totals may even include individuals who have recovered.
Therefore, the data do not serve as an accurate barometer of the current status of COVID-19 at any point in time at any one of UGA’s campuses.
Since August 10, 2020 UGA has supported surveillance testing for asymptomatic individuals and clinical (Health Center) testing resources for symptomatic students as a means of distancing the two populations and optimizing the use of Health Center staff and the facility. Because students are showing symptoms when they request a test at the Health Center, it is expected that its tests would have a significantly higher positivity rate than would be the case for those who are asymptomatic when tested.
Results of testing at the University Health Center (symptomatic) for the week of August 16 include a total of 285 COVID-19 tests; there were 59 positive tests. The positivity rate was 20.7%.
Results of asymptomatic testing: 928 tests were conducted with 40 positive results, for a positivity rate of 4.3%.

DawgCheck and other University of Georgia-related COVID information is available at the University Health Center website at https://uhs.uga.edu/healthtopics/covid-19-health-and-exposure-updates.

Free COVID-19 Vaccine Events

Below are some upcoming opportunities for free vaccinations from the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) Northeast Health District (NEHD). (Schedules subject to change by NEHD - verify information on the NEHD website.)

No appointment needed
Walk-ups welcome
No insurance required
No ID required

Thursday, August 26
Carrier Transicold
700 Olympic Drive
9:00 AM - Noon

Thursday, August 26
Say "Yes" Summer Event
UGA - Tate Student Center Plaza
45 Baxter Street
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Saturday, August 28
iServe Ministries Food Distribution
Kroger (College Station Road)
7:00-9:00 AM

Saturday, August 21
Multicultural Health Fair at the J&J Flea Market
(will include health check-ups, Hep C testing, COVID-19 vaccines, school supplies & more)
11661 Commerce Road
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Upcoming event listings are updated every Friday online on the NEHD website

Resources:

Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines at bit.ly/NEHDCOVIDVaccine.
PublicHealthIsForEveryone.com
Clarke County Health Department on Facebook