The CDC vaccination panel shows that North Carolina gave the first dose of vaccination 966 per 100,000 people.
“It’s probably going to be a bit slower than we thought it would be,” said Dr. Dennis Taylor, who treats patients at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, said. He is also president of the North Carolina Nurses Association. “And I do not know exactly where the issues are, whether it’s just in its record keeping or what. According to my understanding, we do have the vaccine. It’s just a matter of setting up the sites for people around the vaccine. to get. ‘
Questions and Answers with a Doctor in North Carolina: When will the general public be able to get the vaccine?
Due to the limited supply, North Carolina vaccinations are taking place in phases, and health officials say it will likely be until the spring that the general public can get the vaccine. Currently, North Carolina is in Phase 1a, which includes health care workers, medical staff and first responders involved with COVID-19 patients, and long-term care staff and residents.
A North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said Monday that some vaccine providers will begin Phase 1b on Jan. 6, but most on Jan. 11.
NCDHHS has a dashboard that is updated once a week, which includes the vaccines administered to the state. So far, the dashboard shows that 63,571 people received the first dose. However, NCDHHS said that data on their dashboard does not include vaccines administered in long-term care settings and that they know that more vaccines are being administered than currently appear in the weekly report.
A spokesman for the NCDHHS also said on Monday that in order to increase the rate of vaccinations, NCDHHS had sent a letter to all hospitals and local health departments warning them that future vaccine allocations would be changed based on the number vaccines administered. the state.
When can you get the COVID-19 vaccine? Find out where you are in the queue
“Getting it in the right place at the right time is almost impossible to do it perfectly. The fact that we do it within a few months after the onset of the coronavirus versus 5-10 years is already before the time, “he said. Dr. Arthur Apolinario, who treats patients at the Clinton Medical Clinic. He is also co-chair of the COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine which provided feedback to the state on how the vaccine should be distributed. “We know there will be hiccups. We know there are certain people who believe they should get it sooner or sooner.”
ABC11 reached triangular hospitals to find out how many doses of the COVID-19 vaccine they had administered. Duke Health administered more than 10,000 doses. They started taking the second doses on Sunday along with the second doses. UNC Health has so far vaccinated more than 13,000 employees. The second doses for early recipients are scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Nearly 4,000 WakeMed employees have been vaccinated their first dose, with another 1,200 employees to be vaccinated (first dose) between Monday and Friday. They started administering the second dose this week.
Dr. Apolinario outlined what would happen if the vaccine was offered to everyone in North Carolina.
“We are going to spread wider,” said dr. Apolinario said. “It’s not just the health department and the hospitals that deliver the vaccine at that point. The vaccines in the pipeline, they all have the ability to provide in doctor’s offices where we do not need special refrigerators to keep it colder. “current vaccines, the distribution will be more widespread. We look at churches, we look at primary care offices, of course.”
Apolinario and Dr. Taylor both work with COVID-19 patients and receive their first dose of the vaccine. Dr Taylor said he would receive the second dose on Friday.
“The first dose did not bother me at all,” said Dr. Taylor said. “I did not have any pain on the site. I did not have a fever and did not actually have any symptoms of the first dose. As far as I understand, people who get the second dose have a slightly more local reaction to it, so a little more muscle pain around the injection site, but it’s really about that. “
Former FDA commissioner Mark McClellan has told ABC11 in an email that North Carolina is addressing the distribution of vaccines through a public health approach and that the gap facing the state is not being addressed at this stage. not so unusual.
In Wake County, they received 3,085 total Pfizer vaccines and 1,065 were administered as of Monday morning.
Former state health director dr. Leah Devlin was part of the COVID-19 Vaccination Advisory Committee
attributes many of the problems to the fact that there is not enough vaccine and said that it is important that people listen to the news and pay attention when it is their turn.
“We have an effective vaccine that is incredible. We have a plan to put the vaccine in place. There will be vaccination in our state every week. There will eventually be a vaccine for every person in North Carolina who is willing. to take it, “he said. Dr. Devlin.
“The light is at the end of the tunnel. I think you heard Dr. Fauci say it already, but we’re still in the tunnel. So be patient, protect yourself, your family, your friends and listen when it’s time. “We’re there, we’re going to have most of the population immunized by the summer, that’s really good news,” said Dr Devlin.
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