Sanford, NC – Demand for the coronavirus vaccine overwhelmed the phone lines in Lee County on Monday morning, after the county began accepting records of people with health problems that put them at greater risk of contracting the virus.
Lee County was the first county in the area to allow people in Group 4 on the state’s priority vaccine list to register for vaccination.
At about 10 am, the county IT staff had to shut down the vaccine call center and establish a new number. Less than three hours later, county officials have completely suspended registrations because of limited vaccine supplies.
“The Department of Health has a vaccine supply available to complete all vaccine clinics currently scheduled. New registrations will not be accepted until additional vaccines have been secured, ”officials said in a press release.
County spokesman Jamie Brown said opening the register for people in Group 4 was just a matter of maintaining a healthy waiting list for vaccines.
“Like many other local health departments across the state, we are facing last-minute cancellations and no-shows at our vaccine clinics, as individuals make multiple appointments in the hope of receiving the vaccine faster,” said the spokesman. from Jamie Brown County by email to WRAL News. “Although we understand the desire to be vaccinated as soon as possible, it created a certain logistical problem for the health department while planning our clinics.”
Dr. John Anderson, medical director at Duke Primary Care, said that making multiple appointments is the best option for people seeking a quicker vaccination.
“It always helps to be proactive in that regard,” said Anderson, recommending that people consult with their primary care physicians, county health departments and providers like the Duke University Health System.
“Many of the smaller clinics may not be able to administer the vaccine, but they can at least direct patients where to go,” he said.
North Carolina providers have administered more than 2.8 million vaccines to date, with 10.3% of state residents fully vaccinated.
Duke Primary Care plans to open its first drive-thru vaccination clinic on Tuesday at 5601 Arringdon Park Drive in Morrisville for people on Duke Health’s waiting list.
“We would like to be able to give around 500 a day to start,” said Anderson. “As we increase and improve, that number may increase.”
The clinic will provide Johnson & Johnson’s unique vaccine, which, according to Anderson, works better in the drive-thru format because it requires less patient monitoring after the injection than the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Another option: a mass vaccination facility run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency opens outside a Greensboro mall on Wednesday, with plans to administer up to 21,000 vaccines a week for the next eight weeks.
Durham resident Michael Palmer, who is already vaccinated, said word of mouth is a good way to find the fastest injection.
“Most of us in our relationship network, especially baby boomers like me, have friends who have had pictures. So within that information network, there are a lot of resources,” said Palmer.
Thomas Murray, who has not yet been vaccinated, agreed.
“I think with the way word of mouth is going, I feel that, since you have some friends who already know about it, and with everyone helping each other, I don’t think it should be a big problem”, Murray said.
Duke Health is unlikely to start vaccinating anyone in Group 4 before March 24, which is the eligibility date that state officials set last week, Anderson said.
Brown said Lee County will also not start vaccinating anyone in that group until “later this month”. A county Facebook post said it could be as early as March 17, depending on the availability of the vaccine.
Other county county health departments and providers said they had no plans to vaccinate Group 4 members before March 24.
“We are following state guidelines and will begin registering people in Group 4 on March 24,” Orange County spokesman Tod McGee said in an email. “That does not mean that we will have vaccines for them. The people in Groups 2 and 3 will still be ahead of them in the queue.”
“At the moment, we are still working on our waiting list to vaccinate individuals in Groups 1 to 3 who are on our waiting list. In the coming weeks, we plan to evaluate our waiting list and expand to additional groups when we can,” the door Harnett County spokesman, Ashley Deans Bauer said in an email.
People do not need to be vaccinated in the same municipality in which they live, according to the state.