Georgia to receive coronavirus vaccines in March instead of February, gov't considers easing COVID-19 restrictions

By Khatia Bzhalava

Tuesday, February 23

According to Health Minister candidate Ekaterine Tikaradze, Georgia will be the first country in the region to receive high-quality vaccines.

As Shota Burjanadze, the founder of the Georgia Restaurant Association stated, due to the difficult financial situation, only 700 out of 10,000 food facilities can be opened.

Georgia will receive the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in early March instead of February. As the Deputy Minister of Health Tamar Gabunia stated at the briefing on Monday, exact dates of securing the vaccine will be set this week. It was also noted yesterday that the government considers easing the remaining Covid-19 restrictions.

According to Gabunia, negotiations are underway with UNICEF to determine when the vaccine will arrive in the country. As she noted, Georgia may receive AstraZeneca vaccine (150,000 doses) first instead of the Pfizer vaccine. The Deputy Health Minister also mentioned the ongoing discussions over receiving the Nova Wax as well as Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

According to the Head of Infectious Diseases and AIDS Centre Tengiz Tsertsvadze, the slight delay in the introduction of the vaccine in the country “is not a tragedy,” as long as the vaccination plan is executed as well as planned and promised. Tsertsvadze noted that the country has already selected hospitals where vaccination will be implemented. Initially, the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be available for medical sector workers and elderly people. The Georgian government plans to vaccinate 60% (approximately 1.7 million people) of the population this year.

As noted at the briefing yesterday, given the current stable epidemic situation in Georgia, the government considers further easing the restrictions.

The public demand for lifting restrictions is high. Starting February 8, restaurants have been allowed to provide their service only in open areas, however, according to Shota Burjanadze, the founder of the Georgia Restaurant Association, out of the food facilities that can open despite the financial crisis, only 10% have open space. Business sector representatives have addressed the government several times requesting to open ski resorts, allow restaurants and food facilities to operate indoors, and remove weekend work restrictions. Businesses also demand the nationwide curfew to start at 23:00 instead of 21:00.

Yesterday, Georgia reported 147 new cases of coronavirus, 607 recoveries, and 12 deaths. Georgia has had a total of 268,502 confirmed cases since February 2020. 262,244 of the 268,502 individuals have recovered, unfortunately, 3,447 others have died.