Chapel Hill, North Carolina – On Tuesday, Chapel Hill UNC Medical Center will receive its first shipment of 2,925 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and will begin vaccinating 20% of its staff.
Duke received his first doses on Monday and has already begun vaccinating employees. Officials said their initial goal is to vaccinate 60 people a day.
Duke will also distribute the vaccine to employees at Duke Regional Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospital this week.
Doctors such as Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, who acts on the front line of the pandemic in Duke, said receiving the vaccine is personal.
“I have colleagues whose family members have died,” Martinez-Bianchi said. “I have colleagues who have died. So this affects us all, everyone. Today I take the photo for myself, but I also take it especially for my community, for the people I care for.”
National studies have shown that minority communities are more likely to be skeptical about the vaccine. Martinez-Bianchi said he hopes to be a role model for the Latino community to urge them to get it when it is available.
UNC Medical Center, which has 14,000 employees, expects to vaccinate 20% during the first round of vaccinations. UNC REX, UNC’s next largest facility, has 6,500 employees and expects to vaccinate 45% with the 2,925 doses.
Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC Health, said he plans to get the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday. According to Wohl, even with the vaccine, things will not return to normal for months, if not more, and wearing masks will be important even after the vaccines become widespread.
“Don’t take off your mask,” Wohl said. “You’re not sure … we don’t know at all. I think it’s really a silly game to make predictions when it comes to COVID-19.”
Health workers will be vaccinated first, followed by the elderly in the residences. Dr. Anthony Fauci said earlier this week that he estimates the vaccine will be available to the general public sometime in the spring.
Most North Carolina hospitals will receive the first vaccines on Wednesday.
The seven-day average of new coronavirus cases in North Carolina exceeded 6,000 on Monday for the first time since the pandemic began.
On Tuesday at 2 p.m., Gov. Roy Cooper will provide a coronavirus update for the first time since the vaccine was released. The live broadcast will be available for viewing on WRAL.com and WRAL-TV.