Raleigh, North Carolina – While North Carolina continues to focus on vaccinating health workers and residents and staff at long-term coronavirus care facilities, some counties in the area are also beginning to vaccinate 75-year-olds or more.
But the measure, as well as the state’s overall vaccine deployment effort, is causing confusion and frustration.
The Wilson County Department of Health, for example, uses some of the 800 doses of vaccine it has for seniors, but officials told people they had to call and make an appointment to get vaccinated. However, telephone problems and an overwhelming response got this plan Monday, which led many people to show up at health department offices.
“I’m 82 and my husband is 87 and he’s just been diagnosed with lung cancer. So, of course, we want that,” Undine Lamm said of the vaccine.
The couple drove from Elm City to Wilson Health Department offices to make an appointment, only to be picked up.
“We are here to try to make an appointment to get the COVID vaccine,” Lamm said. “I called 12 [or] 13 times this morning, I’ve tried to get through it and I can’t get over it. … The lady says, ‘Well, you have to call to make an appointment. That’s the only way to do it. “
Wilson’s Bill Robinette had the same problem.
“I called a lot, and then I said I’ll go out here in person to see if I can get an appointment like that, but they said you still have to call and make a phone call,” Robinette said.
Annette Clark, 82, was able to set up her appointment last week and received the first dose of the vaccine on Monday.
“It was painless, effortless and I was in and out,” Clark said. “This is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Wilson County Health Director Teresa Ellen said she hopes to fix the phone problems before Tuesday. The department is also working to create an online portal for making vaccination appointments.
Elsewhere, the Person County health department had to extend the hours of its vaccination clinic for seniors Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and add a second clinic from 1 p.m. 30 to 16 h on Wednesday to meet demand. Northampton County also plans to start vaccinating seniors on Wednesday. Both counties said people need to schedule appointments in advance.
Halifax County expects to begin vaccinating seniors next week and UNC Health Southeastern will begin vaccinating people 75 and older in Robeson County on Wednesday.
Each county handles the vaccines of the elderly differently. Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said last week that officials would have a better idea this week of how the process will go.
Wake County has released a statement saying local doctors, health departments and hospitals are currently working on a joint strategy to vaccinate the elderly.
“Right now, there is not enough vaccine to move to Phase 1b. Wake County vaccinates those who meet the requirements for Phase 1a with the limited supply available. Phase 1a includes thousands of health workers, staff physician and lifeguards working with COVID 19 patients, staff who help administer the vaccines, as well as long-term care staff and residents, ”a statement read on the county website.
County officials said 3,800 people are on a waiting list to get vaccinated, but there are only 2,020 doses left in the county, meaning more than 1,700 people have to wait for the next vaccine shipment to fire. .
The first Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which were administered in the United States in mid-December, were prioritized for health care workers and for those living or working in long-term care centers.
It has been 21 days since the first COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, was administered in the Triangle. Anyone who received the Pfizer vaccine on December 14 can now get their second dose as three weeks have passed.
The Pfizer vaccine appears to be about 52% effective after the first dose and 95% after the second dose. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, with four weeks to separate the two shots for those receiving the Moderna vaccine.
Medical offices are also waiting
People aged 75 and over are only the first group in the Phase 1b launch plan. The second group in this phase includes health care workers who do not treat patients with COVID-19 and “essential” workers 50 years of age or older, including first aid workers, teachers, postal workers, and supermarket employees. The third group in this phase includes essential workers aged 49 or under.
Dr. Brian Bowman, a pediatrician from Cary, complained to DHHS officials about the lack of information about vaccinating health care workers like him who do not treat patients with COVID-19 but still have exposure risks.
“If you don’t know we’re here, how do we know we’ll get the vaccine?” “Bowman said.” “We are certainly not intensive care units in the emergency department, but we still have significant potential exposure.”
Last week he sent a letter to DHHS asking him when his group would get the vaccine. Now they will get it this week. He said he is not sure if the letter was what allowed them to follow the schedule, but he is very worried that doctors from other parts of the state will be lost.
“It wasn’t completely transparent, it wasn’t clear where we were going to go and how we were going to do it,” he said. “It has seemed to us that we are in individual silos and we have to fend for ourselves to take care of our staff so that we can stay here and be open during that time.”
After weeks of waiting, Dr. Beverly Edwards, a pediatrician in Barcelona Pronunciation, finally came to the Hertford The County Department of Health will schedule vaccinations for her and her office staff.
“We’ve been calling, us and the other peds the offices have called them every day because we know they have the vaccine for at least two or three weeks, “Edwards said.” They were supposed to have a plan to give us the vaccine before everyone else, but they really don’t have it. I still can’t think of that plan. “
After phase 1b, adults with a high risk of exposure or a higher risk of serious illness will be vaccinated in phase 2. This includes people aged 65 to 74 and those under 65 who have a medical condition. which increases the risk of COVID-19 disease. Other essential workers and people living or working in care centers are also in phase 2.
In phase 3, college, university and high school students aged 16 and over can be vaccinated. Phase 4 is open to anyone who wants to get vaccinated.
Cohen said it will be months before the vaccines are widely available to the public.
Coronavirus in North Carolina
North Carolina has seen another rise in coronavirus cases, with the first two days of 2021 showing 19,000 new cases statewide.
Another 5,187 infections were reported on Monday, when the state set a record with 16.5% of positive virus tests. State officials have set a target of 5% or less for this metric.
Over the past week, the state has averaged 7,056 new cases a day, the first time it occurred during the pandemic to exceed 7,000.
North Carolina also set its third consecutive Monday record for people in hospitals with COVID-19, at 3,635. Hospitals have a capacity of 74% and only 17% of intensive care beds are available.
Wake County has created new sites to help demand coronavirus testing and some patients get results within hours. No appointment required.
Test sites open Monday include:
- Marsh Creek Park, 3050 N. New Hope Road in Raleigh, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Roberts Park, 1300 St. Martin in Raleigh, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Method Community Park, 514 Method Road in Raleigh, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.