VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) — South Georgia Medical Center announced Friday that they will be shutting down their drive-thru COVID-19 testing site and also stop providing COVID-19 vaccines to the public.
SGMC said in a news release that the moves come as they have seen a "dramatic drop" in demand for tests and vaccination requests.
"The sheer volume of tests and vaccinations provided by our team is remarkable. We cannot thank them enough for their servant leadership during these difficult times," said Randy Smith, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer at SGMC.
Even though they will no longer operate their drive-thru testing site, SMGC said patients with a physician-ordered test can still be tested at one of their walk-in labs located at the Professional Building and Smith Northview Campus Monday thru Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. To order free at-home COVID-19 tests, visit covidtests.gov.
SGMC also said in their news release that they will stop providing the public with COVID-19 vaccines on Feb. 21.
In addition to a drop in vaccination requests, SGMC cited a decline in the COVID-19 positivity rate as a reason to stop providing vaccines to the public.
In total, nearly 52,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered by SGMC's team since it became available, according to the hospital. Additionally, almost 200,000 tests have been performed by the system since the start of the pandemic.
The hospital added that they will continue to monitor the spread of COVID-19 and remains ready to make adjustments as needed.
