The Moore County Health Department will begin pre-registering residents 65 and older for coronavirus vaccination on Wednesday morning.
The agency, which has been scheduling injections for people 75 and older since January 8, is adjusting its process to accommodate individuals who meet the expanded age criteria announced last week by the NC Department of Health and Human Services. People who meet the new criteria should call 910-947-7468 or visit moorecountync.gov/shot to pre-register for vaccination.
“We will continue to schedule appointments for our 75 and older, as we move up the list for those aged 65 to 74,” said Robert Wittmann, director of the local health department, in a statement. “We ask everyone to be patient, as it may take some time before you receive a call to schedule a vaccine appointment.”
The health department is administering the first dose of the two-part vaccine to eligible residents on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in its Carthage building. There is no charge for vaccination and health insurance is not required.
Inoculating a larger group of older adults will be a difficult task in Moore County.
People aged 65 and over constituted about 24% of the total county population in 2018, according to the US Census Bureau. The same age group represented only 16% of the state’s population at the time.
More than 6,180 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have been reported in Moore County since the pandemic began. About 1,283 of these cases, or 22%, are related to residents aged 65 and over.
DHHS said about 4,885 people received their first dose of the vaccine in Moore County on Monday. The second injection was administered to about 640 people.
After older adults, the next groups in the vaccination queue include essential frontline workers of any age and health professionals of any age, regardless of whether they work directly with COVID-19 patients.