Thanks to the state of Georgia for allowing anyone aged 16 or older to get the COVID-19 vaccine…read morebeginning March 25, 2021. I believe Georgia was one of the first states to allow any adult to get the vaccine. Other states, like nearby Tennessee and North Carolina, allowed the vaccine to be given to all adults beginning April 5 and April 7, respectively.
The Georgia Department of Public Health ("Georgia Health Department") in conjunction with the Georgia Security Management and Homeland Security Agency ("GEMA/HS") and other entities, like the City of Atlanta and the Fulton County Board of Health, has an online scheduling system and mass vaccination sites set up. For more info, visit the Georgia Health Department's COVID-19 vaccine site at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine. For a direct link to the Health Department's vaccine scheduler, visit https://gta-vras.powerappsportals.us/.
Using the vaccine scheduler above on April 4, I was easily able to book an appointment for my first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium Community Vaccination Center ("MBSCVC" mass vaccination site) on April 7 (two days ago). As a sports fan, I thought it was cool and a lot of fun to get vaccinated at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It felt like going to a game.
When I checked the Health Department's scheduler on March 25, no appointments were available for me at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. When I checked again on April 4 (10 days later), there were plenty of appointment times for me to choose from beginning on April 7, three days out. I suspect it's now easy for anyone 16 or older to get vaccinated at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I didn't check the scheduler for appointments between March 25 and April 4, but I did receive emails on March 29 and April 1 from the Georgia Department of Public Health Vaccine Registration and Administration System ("VRAS") to book an appointment, so maybe slots were available for me earlier.
Thanks to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for being a mass vaccination site. It's the largest vaccination location in the Southeast: https://twitter.com/AFCEMA/status/1379437806695686147.
Parking is free in the Silver Deck, adjacent to the stadium. Navigate to 1414 Andrew Young International Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30313 to get there. After you park, exit at the top of the deck (Level 6). Enter the stadium via Gate 2. Signs and staff will direct you every step of the way.
The whole process was very efficient, from parking to leaving. Because of how busy it was the night I went, the Silver Deck was full and officers were directing vehicles to the Orange Deck nearby. The Orange Deck is also adjacent to the stadium and conveniently close to Gate 2.
I showed up on-time for my 7:30pm Wednesday appointment time. I had to show the appointment time on my phone in order to enter the stadium. It appeared everyone entering the stadium at the same time as me was assigned to "Division D: Purple." We were given purple bracelets which allowed us access to that area of the stadium. When I arrived to the Purple area, I was given a COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card which I filled out myself. I didn't have to show the QR code on my phone or show my photo ID.
In fact, I was never asked to show an ID or insurance card at any point during my visit. This Mercedes-Benz Stadium Community Vaccination Center is truly a free-to-the-public mass vaccination site. And a very well-run operation at that. It's a collaboration between many entities: local, state, and federal.
After writing my name and birthdate on my COVID vaccine card, I was given a number and waited in a masked, socially-distant waiting area. They called batches of numbers in ascending order which was nice because everyone knew when their number was about to be called. Numbers were constantly being called and things moved at a brisk pace in general. Like I said, a well-run operation.
In the vaccine area, they had US Army preparing and administering the vaccines. The guy who administered my vaccine did it super fast. Check out the video I posted to this page to see how fast he did it.
The vaccine area is when they actually scanned the QR code I received via email. That scan triggered another email to be sent to me which enabled me to schedule my second dose. They thought this whole thing through every step of the way. As a Georgia Tech industrial engineering grad, I applaud the efficiency. Everything was streamlined.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on April 2, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium Community Vaccination Center is "open most days and as late as 10pm two nights a week, likely Mondays and Wednesdays." Those days include weekends. Staff is working "to administer 42,000 shots a week" and "officials hope to vaccinate 210,000 people during the expanded operation period, which is scheduled to conclude on May 19." Source: https://www.ajc.com/news/thousands-of-covid-19-vaccine-appointment-slots-open-at-mercedes-benz-stadium/TJRKPOFPK5F63AKOR5H3VSZOBY.