Raleigh, NC – The state has changed its vaccination policy for people from other states, saying vaccine providers no longer need to offer coronavirus inoculations to people who do not live, work or spend “significant time” in North Carolina.
The move follows a change in the guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week – guidance that top state health officials said once required vaccinators to take all candidates, as long as they met the eligibility plan for layered vaccine in the state.
The state Department of Health and Human Services said that 2.72% of the first 1.1 million doses administered in North Carolina were for non-residents. This results in just under 30,000 photos.
It is unclear how many of these people traveled to North Carolina just to get the vaccine, instead of working here or staying in the state for a long time, despite having a home address elsewhere. But there are some indications of “vaccine tourism”, with people crossing the border into North Carolina just to get an injection.
George Allen, a former Virginia governor, traveled more than an hour from Virginia Beach, Va., To Elizabeth City last Friday to get his chance, so tweeted about the trip, posting photos on social networks.
“Like many VA Beach neighbors, we found NC much easier to obtain the COVID vaccination,” he wrote. “My family is happy, relieved. Now I will go to Popeye’s.”
Albemarle Regional Director of Health Services, R. Battle Betts, whose organization oversees public health in and around Elizabeth City, said the ARHS initially had around 2,000 people from outside the state to get their vaccines, in part because North Carolina and Virginia had different eligibility requirements.
“This has now been fixed and should alleviate the problem in the future,” said Betts in an email. “As far as demographics are concerned, I don’t think it was a matter of wealth, as we had a wide variety of people present for service from all parts of VA.”
For weeks, North Carolina officials said they could not refuse those seeking vaccines from outside the state because vaccines are paid for and provided to each state by the federal government. But the CDC’s orientation on this changed last week, and state officials confirmed on Monday that North Carolina will change with them, although it appears that local health departments, hospitals and pharmacies offering injections have the final say.
“It is permitted not to offer vaccine to temporary travelers who do not reside, work or spend a lot of time in North Carolina,” DHHS spokeswoman Sarah Lewis Peel said in an email. “This could include people passing or traveling briefly through North Carolina or coming to North Carolina with the primary goal of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and then returning to another state.”
It was not immediately clear whether other neighboring states would follow suit. The health departments of South Carolina and Tennessee told WRAL News on Friday that they have no residence restrictions, and Tennessee released its percentage of out-of-state vaccines in the same neighborhood as North Carolina – about 3%.
The health departments of the other two states bordering North Carolina – Virginia and Georgia – did not immediately respond to questions, but the Georgia health commissioner said publicly that the state does not try to prevent the practice, although it does consider middlemen ” . irresponsible and selfish. “
North Carolina learned of the CDC’s move early last week.
“A state can decide that protecting the public health of its residents requires limiting vaccination to state residents and not temporary travelers who do not reside in the state,” a contact with the CDC coronavirus team told DHHS, in an e- mail later sent to WRAL News. “This would be allowed under the terms of the CDC donation, as long as the policy aims to promote public health goals, how to reach priority populations and promote equity.”
Asked about the previous policy, DHHS provided an e-mail network starting in January. Initially, a regional contact with the CDC said it was up to the states. But two days later, on January 8, this was clarified: “As a federal vaccine purchased with federal funding, jurisdictions should not place restrictions on administration for non-residents, as long as these patients meet current eligibility criteria.”
Health experts say it makes sense to offer vaccines in all counties and states in some cases. Even when discussing the latest policy change, DHHS said that “all North Carolina residents will benefit from as many eligible people as possible getting the vaccine as soon as possible.” The department also said that people who work in North Carolina or receive ongoing medical care here should continue to be vaccinated here, if they want to.
Betts said he had no problems with borderline virginians coming to North Carolina for their photos.
“You could certainly make a viable argument that border counties could serve each other without borders, as there tends to be a mix in daily life anyway,” he said. “The real problem was people trying to come from Richmond to the north. I believe that is beyond reasonable expectation.”