Sanford, NC – Demand for coronavirus vaccine overwhelmed phone lines in Lee County Monday morning after the county began accepting registrations from people with health conditions that put them at greater risk from the virus.
Lee County was the first county district where people in grade 4 of the state’s vaccine priority list could register for vaccinations.
At about 10 a.m., county IT staff had to close the vaccine call center and set up a new number. Less than three hours later, provincial officials suspended registrations altogether due to the limited supply of vaccines.
“The health department has a vaccine stockpile available to complete all currently planned vaccine clinics. New registrations will not be accepted until additional vaccines are obtained,” officials said in a press release.
County spokesman Jamie Brown said opening up the registration to people in Group 4 was just a matter of keeping a healthy waiting list for vaccinations.
“Like many local health departments in the state, we run into last-minute cancellations and no-shows at our vaccine clinics as people make multiple appointments in hopes of getting the vaccine faster,” county spokesman Jamie Brown said in an e-mail. mail. to WRAL News. “While we understand the desire to be vaccinated as soon as possible, this has created a bit of a logistical problem for the health department as we make plans for our clinics.”
Dr. John Anderson, chief medical officer for Duke Primary Care, said making multiple appointments is the best option for those looking for faster vaccination.
“It always helps to be proactive in that regard,” said Anderson, who recommends that people contact their primary care physicians, regional health departments and healthcare providers such as Duke University Health System.
“Many of the smaller practices may not be able to administer the vaccine, but at least they can direct patients where they need to go,” he said.
Providers in North Carolina have administered more than 2.8 million vaccinations to date, with 10.3 percent of the state’s residents fully vaccinated.
Duke Primary Care plans to open its first drive-thru vaccination clinic at 5601 Arringdon Park Drive in Morrisville on Tuesday to people on Duke Health’s waiting list.
“We’d like to give about $ 500 a day at the beginning,” said Anderson. “As we ramp this up and get better at it, maybe that number could go up.”
The clinic will provide the one-time Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which Anderson says works better in a drive-thru format because it requires less post-injection patient monitoring than the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Another option: A massive vaccination site run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency opens outside a shopping center in Greensboro on Wednesday, with plans to deliver up to 21,000 injections per week for the next eight weeks.
Durham resident Michael Palmer, who has already been vaccinated, said word of mouth is a good way to find the fastest shot.
“Most of us, in our network of relationships, especially baby boomers like me, we have friends who have taken pictures. So within that network of information, there are a lot of resources,” Palmer said.
Thomas Murray, who has not yet been vaccinated, agreed.
“I think with how word of mouth travel is, I think once you have some friends who already know about it, and with everyone helping each other out, I don’t think it should be too much of a problem , ”Murray said.
Duke Health probably won’t start vaccinating anyone in Group 4 before March 24, the date state officials became eligible last week, Anderson said.
Brown said Lee County also won’t start vaccinating anyone in that group until “later this month.” A Facebook post from the province said this could be as early as March 17, depending on the availability of vaccines.
Other regional health departments and providers said they have no plans to vaccinate Group 4 members by March 24.
“We follow state guidelines and will begin registering people in Group 4 on March 24,” Orange County spokesman Tod McGee said in an email. “This doesn’t mean we will have vaccines for them. People in Groups 2 and 3 will still be ahead of them in line.”
“We are currently working on our waiting list to vaccinate those in Groups 1 to 3 who are on our waiting list. In the coming weeks we plan to review our waiting list and expand it to more groups if possible” said Ashley, a spokeswoman for Harnett County. Deans Bauer said in an email.
According to the state, people do not need to be vaccinated in the same province in which they live.