Millions in surplus of vaccine available in North Carolina, and getting turned down from federal government

Jun. 7—ELIZABETHTOWN — Once coveted in Bladen County and across the state, vaccine for the coronavirus is now at a surplus.

Millions of it.

The state last week declined to accept new allocations from the federal government, a first since the vaccine was first distributed here in December. North Carolina has returned more than 1.2 million doses, as of Friday, and showed a surplus of 2.4 million waiting for residents to take.

In addition, the state has turned down nearly 2.4 million COVID-19 vaccines from its federal allocation.

Vaccination series are complete for 31 percent of the total population of the county and 39 percent of the total population of the state, the Department of Health and Human Services says. There are 10,270 people fully vaccinated in Bladen County, and 11,406 partially vaccinated. Statewide, there are 4,120,223 people fully vaccinated and 4,553,725 partially vaccinated.

Since the pandemic began, the county has recorded 3,353 cases and 3,271 recoveries. Forty-two have died. There two hospitalized among 40 active cases.

In Friday's statewide report for clusters and outbreaks, there was no change in Bladen County — including no update on clusters. In the most recent report available, Bladenboro Primary School had remained on the cluster list with no changes — five cases involving children, no staff cases, and no deaths. The school year ended for students May 28.

DHHS defines outbreaks as two or more cases at congregate living settings, and clusters as five or more at child care facilities or schools.

The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 1,125 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 834 in Bladenboro; 435 in Clarkton; 362 in East Arcadia; 181 in White Oak; 168 in Tar Heel; 89 in Council; and 66 in Kelly.

There are 20 fatalities listed for the ZIP in Elizabethtown and White Lake. There have been eight in Bladenboro; five each Clarkton and East Arcadia; four in Clarkton; two each in Council and White Oak; and one each in Tar Heel and Kelly. The Dublin ZIP code disappeared from the state report on Jan. 29.

Friday's totals from the state included:

—13,151 deaths.

—1,004,669 cases.

—613 hospitalized.

—13,337,545 tests.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health conditions, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

In Bladen County, the ages 25-49 category has had 37 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 22 percent, 18-24 has 12 percent, 17-and-under has 14 percent, 65-74 has 11 percent and 75-or-older has 5 percent. Ages for 23 of 42 deaths are suppressed; six are ages 75-and-older, six are ages 65-74, five are ages 50-64, and two are ages 25-49.

Statewide, the ages 25-49 category has had 39 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 20 percent, 18-24 has 14 percent, 17-and-under has 12 percent, 65-74 has 8 percent and 75-or-older has 6 percent. Of the fatalities, ages 75-and-older has made up 58 percent, 65-74 has 24 percent, 50-64 has 14 percent and 25-49 has 4 percent.

In adjacent counties to Bladen, there have been 893 deaths and 66,379 cases. Cumberland has 313 deaths and 29,756 cases; Robeson has 247 deaths and 16,678 cases; Columbus has 151 deaths and 6,388 cases; Sampson has 113 deaths and 8,023 cases; and Pender has 69 deaths and 5,534 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 5,624 deaths and 73,260 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 86 nursing homes, 48 residential care facilities, 33 correctional institutions and four other facilities. Of those, seven are in Cumberland, three in Robeson, two in Pender, and one in Sampson.

Pender has two clusters and Bladen has one.

With 94 percent of the state's hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 72 percent of the ventilators, 22 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 25 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, medical KN95 respirators have 89 days supply. All other categories are at least three months.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state's three largest cities and account for 38.1 percent of the deaths (5,014) and 46.5 percent of the cases (466,913).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 970 deaths and 113,621 positive cases, Gaston County has 438 deaths and 26,981 cases, Rowan County has 306 deaths and 17,077 cases, Cabarrus County has 260 deaths and 22,175 cases, and Union County has 225 deaths and 24,712 cases — a total of 2,199 deaths and 204,566 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 730 deaths and 89,022 cases, Durham County has 228 deaths and 25,588 cases, Johnston County has 223 deaths and 22,042 cases, and Orange County has 101 deaths and 8,570 cases — a total of 1,282 deaths and 145,222 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 714 deaths and 48,360 cases, Forsyth County has 395 deaths and 36,635 cases, Randolph County has 231 deaths and 15,216 cases, and Davidson County has 193 deaths and 16,914 cases — a total of 1,533 deaths and 117,125 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 33.3 million confirmed cases and 597,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 28.9 million.

There have been more than 173.3 million cases worldwide, with more than 3.7 million deaths.

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: @alanwooten19.