Over the last few weeks, the number of deaths from COVID-19 in Georgia has skyrocketed, meanwhile, the number of people registering for their first dose of the vaccine has dropped precipitously.

Over the last three days, over 200 people have died because of COVID-19 in Georgia, as the Delta variant continues to ravage the country. 

Amiran Gamkrelidze, director of the National Center for Disease Control, said that the number of people registered for the first dose of the vaccine has decreased.

According to official information during the last 24 hours, roughly 16,000 were vaccinated, compared to nearly 24,000 per day a week prior. 

In total, 30% of Georgia’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Only 17% are fully vaccinated.

‘There are 700 thousand free doses of Pfizer in the country, I tell the people every day-get your vaccines’, Gamkrelidze said.

Irakli Khmaladze, an infectious disease specialist, told OC Media that delaying the vaccination process will have very serious consequences for the country.

‘Reducing registrations for the first dose of the vaccine will, first of all, increase the number of coronavirus patients’, Khmaladze said. ‘The Delta strain is actively spreading, so right now people need to be much more active in protecting themselves and getting vaccinated.’

Gamkrelidze said that ‘30 thousand vaccinations per day’ is the number that Georgia must aim for, as the months of September and October are ‘critical’ for avoiding a worsening of the epidemiological situation in autumn and winter. 

He also said that he supports mandatory vaccination orders for medical personnel, as well as for teachers. In the latter case, he said it was a necessity ‘if we want to open schools’ and have in-person classes.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Georgia has risen sharply since 10 August when the country first topped 54 daily deaths, a record set during a previous wave of the pandemic. 

Speaking with reporters on the same day, Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said the country was ‘going through the worst-case scenario’.

[Read on OC Media: ‘The worst-case scenario’: Georgia registers record COVID deaths]