Raleigh, NC Health care providers across North Carolina administered 95 percent of the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine the state has received so far, said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen on Tuesday.
About 260,000 of those 630,000 first doses were administered last week, Cohen said. Along with the second required dose of each of the two vaccines available, North Carolina providers have administered more than 810,000 doses to date, she said.
“[This] demonstrates to the federal government that North Carolina is ready to receive more vaccines and that we need those additional vaccines now, “she said during an afternoon news conference.
Coronavirus vaccinations in NC
The next shipment of 120,000 doses is expected on Wednesday, but Cohen said state officials expect the federal allocation to increase over time, now that North Carolina is almost running out of available stock.
A large portion of the next 120,000 doses have already been allocated to mass vaccination clinics created weeks ago, when the state was trying to clear its backlog of available doses, she said. Therefore, supplies for many counties will be extremely limited in the coming weeks.
“This week is going to look particularly tight, with many providers getting little or no allocation,” said Cohen.
The supply issue has caused frustration for providers and residents of the state, as clinics struggle to meet the demand for vaccines.
On Monday, the Orange County Health Department said its clinic ran out of first doses and it was unclear when it would get more from the state. County officials have sent a warning that may take weeks or even months before all health workers and people 65 and older are vaccinated.
Wake County received fewer vaccines than expected this week and, as a result, was slowing vaccinations by appointment only. Clinics in Cumberland and Lee counties were open mainly to those receiving their second dose of the vaccine.
To give suppliers more stability, Cohen said, the state has pledged to divide 84,000 doses of its federal government weekly quota among all 100 counties, based on population. Providers will receive a minimum number of doses they can expect in the next three weeks, making it easier to maintain clinics and schedule appointments, she said.
The remaining 36,000 doses each week will be used to readjust the vaccine’s distribution, both geographically and in “marginalized communities”, to ensure the vaccine reaches the places where it is most needed, she said.
“We continue to expect vaccine providers to use all the first doses each week or to transfer them to a provider who can,” she said. “We will always have stock of second doses on hand … but those first doses need to be available on the shelf and given to people every week.”
More than 100,000 doses have been transferred between providers across the state to be administered more quickly, she said.
Increasing the number of first doses administered to close to 100 percent of the state’s quota, said Cohen, would put North Carolina “at the front of the line” to get greater weekly distributions from the government.
“In the coming weeks, there may be more opportunity for more vaccines. That’s why I want all of our providers to be ready, ”she said. “I want to make sure that we are ready to say to the federal government, ‘Yes, we can take this now, today, and get it out quickly.'”