This report estimates uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia through December 31, 2024 by recipients’ county of residence and sex, age, race, or ethnicity. Specifically, it focuses on the number of people up-to-date on vaccination. As of October 3, 2024, a person must meet at least one of these conditions to be up-to-date:

• Ages 0 to 4 years:
  • Have received at least 3 total doses, the last of which is the Pfizer or Moderna 2024-25 updated vaccine
  • Have received at least 2 total Moderna doses, the last of which is the 2024-25 updated vaccine
• Ages 5 to 11 years:
  • Have received a Pfizer or Moderna 2024-25 updated vaccine
• Ages 12 to 64 years:
  • Have received a Pfizer or Moderna 2024-25 updated vaccine
  • Have received at least 2 total doses, the last of which is the Novavax 2024-25 updated vaccine
• Ages 65+ years:
  • Have received at least 2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna 2024-25 updated vaccines
  • Have received at least 3 total doses, at least two of which are 2024-25 updated vaccines

Age refers to age as of 12/31/2024. Recipients with unknown or non-Georgia addresses are included in all statewide totals as well as as a separate county category within the downloadable tables. Percent estimates are not calculated for this category or for unknown demographic categories. Percent estimates are set to 100% wherever number vaccinated meets or exceeds the estimated total population (even where estimated population is 0).

Estimates for the previous season can be found in the final 2023-2024 report. 440,549 (4%) received the vaccine dose(s) recommended for the 2023-24 season.

VTrckS

VTrckS is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine order management system. The Georgia Department of Public Health uses VTrcks to place and manage COVID-19 vaccine orders and track vaccine shipments.

Georgia Registry for Immunization Transactions and Services (GRITS)

Georgia Code 31-12-3.1 and House Bill 1526 require any person who administers a vaccine, licensed for use by the United States Food and Drug and Administration, to enter each individual vaccine in to the Georgia Registry for Immunization Transactions and Services (GRITS). Providers who administer vaccinations can report to GRITS by manually entering each vaccine or interfacing through a data exchange feed. While providers are encouraged to enter vaccinations in real-time as they are given, there may be a delay in when a vaccination is given and the report to GRITS. However, Pandemic Providers are expected to enter vaccination records into GRITS within 24 hours of vaccine administration.

The COVID-19 vaccination data can be used to monitor state- and county-level vaccination coverage and progress towards national, state, and local coverage goals. The data cannot tell us why people are not vaccinated. Some people may not have ready access to the vaccine, and some people may choose not to vaccinate. Also, some people may have received vaccinations that are not recorded in GRITS, such as those who were vaccinated in another state.

Due to data collection and reporting timing, there may be temporary discrepancies between data from the Georgia Department of Public Health and other sources.

Although GRITS is a useful resource for real-time assessments of state and county vaccination in Georgia, GRITS data may underestimate the actual number of people receiving COVID-19 vaccine due to several limitations:

• Some vaccination data may not be submitted to GRITS properly or there could be errors in the data that result in missing vaccination information. DPH staff are working closely to monitor and address any lapses in data exchange to ensure that timely and accurate COVID-19 vaccination information is submitted,
• GRITS is not set up to capture a person’s occupation or comorbidities.
• Some data in GRITS (e.g., race and ethnicity) is self-reported by the individual. Information may be incomplete in GRITS if a person chooses to not report or if a provider does not enter complete information.
• Some data in GRITS (e.g., age) rely on accurate manual data entry. There may be instances where inaccurate information is manually entered into GRITS.

Population Estimates

County population estimates are based on 2022 American Community Survey 5-year census estimates.