How do I get a COVID vaccine appointment in Charlotte? Here’s an updated guide

Alison Kuznitz
·10 min read

Securing a COVID-19 vaccine appointment can be overwhelming, even for the most tech-savvy living in the Charlotte area.

All adults are eligible to make a vaccine appointment in North Carolina beginning April 7. But not everyone will land an appointment that day, cautions Liz McEntee, an administrator for the increasingly popular Facebook group called “NC/SC Vaccine Hunters.”

Vaccine hunters, who are constantly on the lookout for new booking options, say patience is key, especially as eligibility dramatically expands in North Carolina despite a still tight supply.

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“The first thing you should do is join waitlists ... I know waitlists may seem daunting, but that truly is your best bet to get an appointment,” McEntee told the Observer by email.

There’s no centralized wait list. Depending on where you live and which providers have vaccines, your access to appointments varies considerably in North Carolina.

Health officials are hopeful that larger shipments of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vials by mid-April will speed up vaccinations across the Carolinas.

The Charlotte Observer has compiled this information to help those searching for COVID-19 vaccine appointments in North Carolina. The (Rock Hill) Herald has similar information for those seeking appointments in and around York County, South Carolina, where residents age 16 and older are now eligible.

Public health officials encourage you to make your vaccine appointment in your home state, but it’s permissible to go from North Carolina to South Carolina, or vice versa, for your shot.

In this guide:

The fractured process has forced people to juggle multiple healthcare portals and websites simultaneously.

To look for appointments outside of hospital and county-run clinics, people usually must create new accounts — plus sign up for email and text message alerts. Some websites allow people to navigate vaccine portals as guests, without usernames and passwords.

Create vaccine accounts

Before it’s your turn in line, get all your drugstore and healthcare provider accounts in order. Answer pre-screening questions to determine your vaccine eligibility, and sign up for email and text message alerts.

To make a MyAtriumHealth account, go to Atrium’s homepage at Atriumhealth.org, follow the steps to “Schedule Now” and you’ll be prompted to create an account. During periods of high demand, you may be placed in an online wait list before you can access the portal for appointment scheduling. You may also call for vaccine information at 704-468-8888.

To sign up for MyChart through Novant Health, go to Novant’s homepage at Novanthealth.org, follow the steps to “Get started” or choose coronavirus from the menu. You’ll be asked to begin a pre-screening questionnaire and given the option to start a MyChart account, log in to your existing account, or continue making an appointment as a guest not registered with the system. You may also call for vaccine information at 877-9NOVANT.

Compile all your basic personal information — including date of birth, email address, phone number and emergency contact details — in a single place, like an email draft or Word document. Some portals may ask for your insurance policy number, but vaccines are free for all North Carolinians.

Where to check or call for appointments

Bojangles Coliseum and other mass clinics are regularly opening new appointments, while smaller sites are also becoming more accessible. The Observer updates regularly a local list of upcoming available clinics at CharlotteObserver.com/vaccine-info.

▪ Mecklenburg County Public Health: Schedule online at starmed.care or call 980-314-9400 (option 3 for English and option 8 for Spanish).

Get on the waitlist also under “COVID-19 Vaccine” on the county’s website.

StarMed Healthcare has a real-time widget to check vaccine availability. Go on Starmed.care and click “Vaccine · Register Now.” You’ll fill out a series of questions: first dose or second dose, choose your county from the drop-down menu and then select your priority group. The “everyone else” option should deliver results when Group 5 is eligible.

Stay updated on social media through Twitter.com/MeckCounty and Twitter.com/StarMedCare.

The at-home vaccination request form is available online for those unable to travel due to mental or physical disabilities. Visit Mecknc.gov/covid-19, click “COVID-10 Vaccine” and look for “Home-Based Vaccination” on the website.

▪ Gaston County: Pre-register online at GastonSaves.com/covid19vaccine.

Book an appointment on that website or call 704-866-3170. The hotline is open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

▪ Union County Public Health: Sign up online by visiting UnionCountyNC.gov and click on vaccine information. From there, choose “COVID-19 Vaccine Prescreen Form” in either English or Spanish. After registering, you will be contacted when an appointment through the health department is available.

For assistance, call 704-292-2550.

▪ Cabarrus Health Alliance: Schedule your shot online or call 704-920-1213. To join the county’s waitlist or schedule an appointment, visit CabarrusHealth.org and click on the COVID-19 Vaccine Information Page.

▪ Walgreens: Schedule online by visiting Walgreens.com. You’ll be prompted to enter your ZIP code. If there are nearby appointments available, you’ll be asked to answer a series of questions to determine your eligibility. If eligible, you will be shown appointment times and locations to choose from.

▪ CVS: Schedule online by visiting CVS.com or download the CVS app. Online, click on “check vaccine availability,” select North Carolina and search through pharmacy locations across the state with available appointments if you meet the eligibility criteria. You may also call 1-800-746-7287.

▪ Harris Teeter: Schedule online by visiting HarrisTeeterPharmacy.com and click “COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments.” You’ll be screened for eligibility then shown available appointments.

▪ Publix: Vaccine appointments are open in South Carolina for now. Schedule online by visiting Publix.com/covid-vaccine. Click your state, hit “book an appointment” and choose a pharmacy location and enter your personal information. The website has a 20-minute countdown to fill out forms.

▪ Walmart: Visit Walmart.com and click on “COVID-19 vaccine” at the bottom of the homepage. Press “schedule now” and you’ll be prompted to log in or create an account to continue the scheduling process.

▪ Statewide: Find your spot via the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ MySpot.NC.gov. The site lists providers by ZIP code but you cannot currently book appointments directly on the state’s website.

▪ South Carolina: The Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Vaccine Information Line operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Call 1-866-365-8110. Find an appointment online at Vaxlocator.dhec.sc.gov.

Vaccinations rising — but so are some Charlotte COVID trends after weeks of progress

When are new appointments loaded?

”The single best tip is to get ready at 11:58 p.m. and be ready to start refreshing your device of choice at midnight,” said Jessica Walters, who created the “NC/SC Vaccine Hunters” Facebook page. That’s when most providers unveil their latest slate of appointments, but before 7 a.m. is considered prime-time for Walgreens.

Vaccine hunters also recommend searching for appointments late into the night and in the early morning, when certain providers release new appointments.

Starting April 7, Mecklenburg Public Health will release new vaccine appointments for the coming week at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesdays.

It’s hard to snag appointments during the day, especially 9 a.m to 5 p.m., when thousands of people are vying for the same slots and may cause websites to crash.

A sprinkling of appointments could crop up randomly during the day as some people cancel their extra or back-up appointments, though they’ll be snatched up quickly.

Mecklenburg health officials say people should cancel duplicate appointments as soon as possible. In the Charlotte area, health departments say there’s been a noticeable uptick for no-shows at vaccine clinics.

Keep refreshing, check daily

A vaccine web page is “only as good as your refresh,” Walters said. Reload the page often to see if that leads to new appointments, but skip this tactic for Publix, where a reload will kick you to the back of the queue. (Publix for now is offering vaccinations in South Carolina but not North Carolina.)

For some providers, appointments can only be booked several days out. Others operate about a week or more in advance.

Some healthcare providers, including Mecklenburg County Public Health and StarMed, post on Twitter when their vaccine portals are experiencing technical glitches. Lately, providers have also announced a deluge of new openings directly on Twitter — so consider turning on tweet notifications to beat the rush.

WSOC reporter Joe Bruno also regularly tweets real-time updates on appointment availability but bear in mind the slots fill up quickly. Follow him at Twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9.

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Vaccine road trip

If you have access to a car, consider driving within an hour or so outside of Charlotte (or the Triangle and other areas with larger populations). And be on the lookout for mass vaccination clinics, like the FEMA site in Greensboro.

”If you increase your radius, make it an hour in any direction from the major cities,” Walters said. “There are clinics, there are pharmacies, there are grocery stores that have much more availability than trying to get into the heart of Charlotte or Raleigh.”

Public transit is available in Charlotte with buses going to Bojangles Coliseum, the county health department’s largest vaccine location, from the uptown transit center and the Eastland Community Transit Center, Mondays to Saturdays, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In late March some rural North Carolina counties began vaccinating adults in Group 5 ahead of schedule. Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris says county residents are welcome to get immunized outside the Charlotte area.

Which brand will I get?

Some people may be hesitant to receive the single-dose J&J vaccine, which posted a lower efficacy rate than Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose regimens. Health experts caution against drawing direct comparisons, since the vaccines were studied at different points of the pandemic and the onset of more contagious coronavirus variants.

Local and state health officials are urging people to take the first vaccine they can get, as all three shots are effective at preventing severe illness and death.

Some people may need to select a certain vaccine to coincide with safe travel or vacation plans — and certain providers publicly advertise what doses they have available. If the information isn’t posted, McEntee said, people should directly call clinics or healthcare providers to verify details.

On VaccineFinder.org, you can search by the brand of vaccine offered and the site shows if one type is in stock at a location. However, the website is not updated minute-to-minute and may not accurately reflect actual appointment availability. Still, you may use this resource to determine if a location is equipped for the vaccine brand you’re searching for.

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So far, only the Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for teenagers who are 16 or 17. Vaccine portals will ask people for their age to address this nuance in eligibility.

“We have three highly effective vaccines and so now we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible,” Novant Health infectious diseases specialist Dr. David Priest said. “We would highly encourage people not to worry about which product they get, but just be getting one of them.”