What impacts could South Ga. see with the COVID national emergency ending?

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The way people live their life under the threat of COVID-19 is now changing. The resources such as free testing are now different after President Joe Biden signed an executive order ending the COVID emergency declaration.

After May 11, coverage for COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 vaccines will change as people will start having to pay for some expenses for resources. Private insurance companies will no longer have to cover COVID-19 testing. However, those covered by Medicare or Medicaid will still be covered. But free over-the-counter COVID-19 tests won’t be free anymore.

In South Georgia, Dr. Derek Heard, Phoebe Primary Care Medical Director, said he’s not worried about having a limited amount of resources because of those changes.

“Institutions like Phoebe that have already purchased vaccines or already have procured vaccines—nothing will change. You will still be able to get the vaccines from us for free,” he said.

The end of the national emergency marks a change in the way the government views COVID-19. Fewer people are being emitted for the virus.

In recent days Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital had only 1 COVID-19 patient. But today there are four COVID-19 patients throughout the system. That’s still a big difference from where the health system was three years ago. However, health officials said now is not the time to let your guard down.

Dr. Heard said now is the time for people to act if they haven’t already gotten updated on their immunizations.

“This area dealt with COVID for three years now and we’re starting to transition out of the pandemic phase of this. This is going to be more endemic, similar to what we see with the flu. Now that doesn’t minimize the fact that COVID can still be serious for those patients who still have a lot of underlying medical conditions,” he said. " We’re still at about 44, 45 percent of patients in the Dougherty-Albany area who have not been fully vaccinated, so again that is still a large number.”

Even after the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, some people in Albany are still clinging to face masks and fearing the worst-case scenario, which they lived through three years ago.

“I’m not going to forget but I do believe in the medical world and the world health organizations are going to say this is going to be something we got to live with until we die,” said Jon Howard, Ward 1 Albany City commissioner.

St. Paul Baptiste Church is trying to step in and help. The church is pushing to vaccinate as many people as possible for free throughout the next two weeks before the COVID-19 national emergency is cut off.

An $80,000 grant in partnership with Albany State University has helped the church educate the community on the importance of vaccines—something Rev. Calvin Rollins, pastor at St. Paul Baptiste Church, said is needed now more than ever.

“We want our people, we want our parents, we want our grandparents, our grandchildren, and we want them healthy,” he said.

This weekend, the church will host a free vaccine event at 2605 Sylvester Road from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Anyone who attends will also receive other free resources like fresh produce.

Copyright 2023 WALB. All rights reserved.