Raleigh, NC – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have told state health officials that winter storms in the US are likely to delay the weekly shipment of coronavirus vaccines across North Carolina.
Officials from the State Department of Health and Human Services said they are working with vaccination providers to minimize the disruption.
Halifax County officials said they canceled vaccination appointments on Wednesday because they were not given doses to give an injection.
“Once we get a vaccine, we’ll allow anyone scheduled to get priority for the first possible vaccination date. At this point, we don’t know when we can get the vaccine,” Halifax County officials said in a statement.
Fort Bragg officials also halted planned vaccinations on Wednesday because no vaccine was available there either.
The impact on Wake County’s planned drive-thru vaccination clinics at the PNC Arena in Raleigh was not immediately known.
The clinics are scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, when 4,300 shots will be administered. Officials said 3,325 doses will come from the regional health department’s weekly allocation, while the other 975 will come from WakeMed’s allocation.
The shots will be administered by appointment only, and county officials have contacted people on the vaccination waiting list to assign them an appointment time.
More than 2,000 people were vaccinated against the corona virus in clinics outside the PNC Arena last Thursday and Saturday.
More than 1.8 million vaccinations have been administered in North Carolina since mid-December, according to DHHS. That means that 12 percent of all North Carolina people have received at least one of the two required doses and 5.4 percent have been fully vaccinated.