COVID-19 vaccine arrives in North Carolina

Published 2:25 pm Wednesday, December 16, 2020

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North Carolina received the first shipment of coronavirus vaccine at 7:28 a.m. on Monday, December 14 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Vaccines were also delivered to Atrium, formerly Carolina Healthcare System, and Duke University Hospital. On Wednesday, eight more locations will receive the Pfizer vaccine. On Thursday, 42 additional locations are on the list for shipments.

“The supply is very limited,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in a media conference. If the Moderna vaccine is approved, the state may receive 175,000 doses next week.

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However, it will be well into the spring before a vaccine is widely available, said Mandy Cohen, North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services.

She said North Carolina has much work to do. She pointed to a “staggering increase” in hospitalizations. On Dec. 15, people hospitalized with COVID-19 numbered 2,735. One month ago, 350 people were in ICUs. On Dec. 15, 643 people with coronavirus were in ICUs across the state. Also on Tuesday, North Carolina reported an additional 5,236 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus, 466 more from the day before.

Coronavirus has caused 5,881 deaths of North Carolinians as of Dec. 15.

On Monday, the United States recorded 300,000 total deaths from coronavirus. About 2,500 coronavirus-caused deaths occur each day.

Across the region, the impact of coronavirus continues.

Dare County – Cases continue to increase. On Tuesday, Dec. 15, new cases numbered 13 people with coronavirus. Ten were residents and three non-residents. Some 81 resident cases were active with 74 in home isolation and seven hospitalized, an increase of two. Of non-residents, 106 have been transferred to home counties.

Dare County’s cumulative total of coronavirus cases is 1,286 as ofDec. 15.

Deaths remain the same at five.

On the state’s County Alert System, Dare County is now yellow, showing significant community spread. Yellow is the lowest of the three ratings.

Regarding vaccines in Dare County, the Dec. 15 bulletin from Dare County Health and Human Services states:

“Our department has been working closely with the state for the past couple of months on the county COVID vaccination plan. The county plan is directed by the state and federal government.

“Information on the vaccination plan is rapidly evolving. We have established a new webpage on our website to provide information on the COVID-19 vaccine. We are required to follow the state’s prioritization groupings when administering the vaccine. We are not permitted to locally change the prioritizations groups.

“When registration opens for the general public according to the required Prioritization Groups we will post that information on the newly created Vaccine webpage.

“We still do not know when or how much vaccine we will be receiving. As soon as we have that information we will share that on the new webpage. We will also advise the public on where we are in the vaccination process as it relates to which Priority Group we are currently vaccinating.”

The web address for Dare County vaccine information is darenc.com/covidvaccine.

Hyde County – The cumulative total of cases is 223. Some 32 are active, positive cases. Deaths from the coronavirus remain at five. On the state’s County Alert System, Hyde County is yellow. Hyde County Health Department acknowledged the uptick in cases in a media release.

Tyrrell County – On Dec. 14, Martin-Tyrrell-Washington Health District reported that Tyrrell County’s total, cumulative case number is now 161, an increase of two since Dec. 10. Some 143 people have recovered. On Dec. 15, 15 cases were active, the same number reported Dec. 10. Three individuals have died in the county due to coronavirus. On the County Alert System, Tyrrell County is yellow.

Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank counties – On Dec. 14, 2020, Albemarle Regional Health Services published the following case information:

Camden: 228 lab-confirmed cases, with 37 cases now active. Some 187 people have recovered. Camden County has lost four people to the coronavirus. Camden is experiencing substantial community spread noted with orange, which is the middle rating of the three on the County Alert System.

Currituck: 496 total lab-confirmed cases. Some 150 cases are active. Currituck County has lost seven people to coronavirus. In the most recent death, the individual was over the age of 65. The death was not associated with any facility outbreak. Currituck is orange on the on the County Alert System.

Pasquotank: 1,329 lab-confirmed cases. Active cases number 154. COVID-related deaths in the county are 36 people. In the County Alert System, Pasquotank is red, signifying critical community spread.

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