The Prime Minister of Georgia held a meeting with the members of the commission in charge of ensuring smooth COVID vaccination. The meeting at the Government Administration discussed preparation for commencing vaccination and the implementation of the national plan.

Georgia is expected to receive the first batch of Pfizer vaccines in late February, 29,250 doses in all. According to the national plan, medical personnel will be the first to be vaccinated, and the collection of relevant data is already underway on a special portal.

The special commission discussed the work carried out so far to receive the first vaccine doses. At the initial state, vaccination will focus solely on the hospital sector. 10 hospitals and, additionally, 5 reserve clinics have been selected in the country to host up to 40 vaccination teams. Each team consists of 3 persons retrained in line with international standards: vaccinator, doctor, and registrant to insert relevant data in the immunization e-module. After each vaccination, beneficiaries will be called back 3 weeks later. As the Head of the Center for Disease Control and Public Health pointed out during the meeting, 40 teams will be able to administer up to 1,000 vaccinations, which means that it will take almost 2 weeks to vaccinate 14,000 medics with the first Pfizer doses.

In addition, Giorgi Gakharia and the commission discussed in detail readiness for ensuring a cold chain, that is, special temperature conditions necessary for Pfizer vaccine storage. Once received, vaccines will be stored at CDC storage facilities in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi, in -70-80 ultra-low-temperature freezers.

Active work also continues to import subsequent vaccine batches as soon as possible, with recognition from the World Health Organization and international endorsement as the key preconditions. Consequently, vaccination of medical personnel as the priority target group will continue, followed by the beneficiaries and personnel of nursing homes, and then by other age or category groups.

The national vaccination plan seeks to vaccinate 60% of the population through 2021. Vaccination is voluntary.

The meeting also emphasized that Georgia is ready to start streamlined vaccination immediately after importing the first batch. On the Prime Minister’s instructions, concrete persons have been designated to be in charge of the vaccination process and logistics.

The meeting reiterated the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Specialists urge citizens maximally to support the smooth process of vaccination as one of the key prerequisites for reopening the economy, rapid recovery, and returning to life as usual.