NC Health Officials Preparing For COVID-19 Vaccine Roll Out
NORTH CAROLINA — Frontline healthcare workers and those living and working in long term care facilities will be among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in North Carolina once they are federally approved and shipped, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna have applied for authorization by the Food and Drug Administration to begin using their COVID-19 vaccines. The FDA is set to review Pfizer's application on Dec. 10 and Moderna's application on Dec. 17, CNN said. Both companies have reported data showing they are at least 94 percent or more effective in preventing COVID-19.
Should the FDA authorize the Pfizer vaccine next Thursday, it won't be long before frontline healthcare workers in North Carolina will begin receiving it, Cooper said. Once vaccines are federally cleared for use, they could begin arriving in North Carolina by mid December.
Vaccinations will be free for all state residents, regardless of insurance coverage, he added.
"Our state is preparing to receive the Pfizer vaccine that requires ultra-cold storage," a capability that a number of state hospitals already have, Cooper said. "We’re a big state with rural areas that stretch for hundreds of miles. Every person is important, and we’ll work hard to overcome challenges that our geography presents."
Cooper emphasized state officials had confidence in the new vaccines.
"We want people to get vaccinated when it's your turn," he said. "In order for this to work, we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible."
North Carolina's initial shipment will be 84,800 doses, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen. Following the initial shipment, more doses would be sent weekly.
Vaccinations will initially be prioritized for health care workers, those living and working in long term care facilities, followed by those who are at risk for severe illness due to two or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, compromised immune systems or moderate to severe asthma.
Those with chronic conditions could possibly be eligible to receive the vaccine in January, Cohen said.
As of Tuesday, DHHS reported 2,883 new COVID-19 cases, at least 2,033 hospitalizations and a 10.2 percent positive rate throughout the state. In early November, the percentage of positive cases in North Carolina was 6.2 percent.
Calling the state's coronavirus trends "worrisome," North Carolina's top doctor said hospitalizations hit a new record Tuesday as the percent of positive tests continues to rise. "Too many people are becoming seriously ill with COVID," she said.
Deaths also rose Tuesday, to 5,284 — 23 more than reported Monday.
"To give some perspective, just under 1,500 people died from the flu in the past 10 years," she said. "In just 11 months, COVID has killed more than three times that number."
This article originally appeared on the Charlotte Patch
