Durham, NC – With the new daily cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina almost record highs, the process to deploy vaccines is becoming more urgent.
But the promise of vaccines is moving more slowly in some counties than in others.
Although some counties have begun vaccinating people aged 75 and over, Durham is still in Phase 1A, vaccinating health workers and those in long-term care facilities. Only a third of the vaccines have been administered.
Durham County has received 3,200 doses of the Modern vaccine and, as of Friday afternoon, 810 had been administered. About 16% was transferred to other medical centers.
This means that around 59% still remain on the shelves.
In comparison, Wake County has administered 2,479 of the 3,900 doses and is preparing to enter Phase 1B next week. However, Wake County is moving more slowly than other surrounding counties.
The director of the Durham County Health Department has not yet granted an interview; however, it seems that part of the reason for Durham’s slower pace is his more measured and methodical approach.
At the last meeting of the Durham Recovery and Renewal Work Unit, Health Director Rod Jenkins reported that there are many factors involved in the current pace of the vaccination process.
“We’re taking our time to make sure we’re able to go to the next stage in a very safe and effective way,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said each individual vaccination requires time and attention, including a screening, keeping room for social distancing and monitoring each vaccinated person for a safe time before sending them home.
“I’ve seen news from other counties that make our dear seniors wait in long lines, get up at 4 a.m. and wait hours to receive the vaccine because of the high demand,” he said.
“We don’t want to have randomly cared for our most vulnerable citizens. We want to make sure we do it the right way,” he said.
Jenkins defined rhythm as an act of balancing the programming, detection, documentation, and operations of the process, with one of the most important concerns being to ensure that vaccines are not wasted.
The health department has received doses of the Pfizer vaccine and will begin administering them this week.
There is still no time period for when phase 1B begins in Durham; however, a roundtable scheduled for Tuesday morning may provide more answers.
Although the county health department has not begun phase 1B, Duke Health has begun accepting appointments.
If you need more information on how to access a COVID vaccine in your county, WRAL has created a county-by-county information reference guide.