Clayton County Schools is joining forces with the south metro Atlanta community’s health department to host a vaccination drive over the next two weekends to inoculate residents against COVID-19.

The drives will be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Mundy’s Mill High School and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Aug. 28 at North Clayton Middle School. The school system also is offering COVID-19 testing Thursday from 1-3 p.m. at Lovejoy, Rex and Riverdale middle schools and Jonesboro High School.

“We’re using our data and testing very strategically,” Clayton County Schools Superintendent Morcease Beasley said during a YouTube Live operations update on Wednesday.

The effort is part of the school system’s recently launched “Calling the Shots” campaign. The program, which includes PSAs, emails to Clayton residents and flyers, is designed to help increase vaccination rates in Clayton County.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, about 40% of Clayton County residents have had one COVID-19 vaccination shot as of Wednesday and 34% are fully vaccinated. That is lower than the state’s overall rate, which is 49% with at least one vaccination dose and 42% fully vaccinated.

The school system, in its most recent filing, reported 43 COVID-19 cases among staff for the week of Aug. 6 and 536 total infections among employees since July. There were 115 cases among students for the Aug. 6 week and a total of 208 since July.

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