Raleigh, NC – The Roy Cooper government mobilized the North Carolina National Guard on Tuesday to speed up the state’s launch of the vaccine.
“Ensuring COVID-19 vaccines are administered quickly is our top priority right now,” Cooper tweeted. “We will use all necessary resources and staff. We have mobilized the NC National Guard to provide support to local health providers as we continue to increase vaccination rates.”
North Carolina has one of the lowest vaccine rates in the country, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The slow release of vaccines is not simply a phenomenon in North Carolina and a number of health experts have criticized the vaccination operation nationwide.
“The United States has really managed to launch the vaccine,” Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist who recently left Harvard University for the Federation of American Scientists, said on Twitter on Monday. “Only 4 million photos were administered in a month, despite the promise of 20 million by the end of 2020. The US must administer 7-10 million vaccines a week.”
But the process has been particularly slow in North Carolina, based on data released by the CDC. On Tuesday, the CDC said North Carolina received 498,450 doses and administered 121,881. The state’s vaccination rate per 100,000 people has made North Carolina the 12th slowest state in the country.
“Although a vaccine was created earlier than expected, the state had months to prepare a distribution plan. It is inexcusable for vaccines to stay on the shelf as long as they did,” said Lauren Horsch. a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger. . “It is good that the governor is aware of this and intends to mobilize the National Guard. We are waiting to see if there is a plan behind that announcement.”
Cooper’s move comes two days after state Rep. Billy Richardson, D-Cumberland, asked Cooper to seek National Guard assistance.
“The number of North Carolinaers who contract Covid daily is staggering, and the slow distribution of vaccines is disturbing,” Richardson wrote in his letter. “Now is the time to act promptly and with a renewed commitment to bipartisan results.”
The letter states that 26 states intended to mobilize their guard units to help distribute vaccines, a figure reported by the National Guard Bureau of the Department of Defense in mid-December.
The figure may be lower now. An office spokeswoman told WRAL News on Tuesday that seven states are using National Guard units that offer some kind of support, but added that it may not be a full number.
Richardson said it is unwise to have hospitals and other health care providers already struggling to increase the number of coronavirus patients to handle vaccination logistics.
“What we should do is use the various resources of the state and the nation to help the health care system do what it does best,” he said.
“There are some who can actually help with vaccinations; some will help with logistics and other things,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the State Department of Health and Human Services, about the National Guard’s assistance.
Richardson also urged General Assembly leaders to return to the session on vaccine issues or at least be ready for action on the first day of a legislative session already scheduled to begin next week.
Only what legislation might be needed was not specified, but Richardson said the state should “empower and fund the National Guard to overcome obstacles to the efficient and rapid delivery of vaccines to our citizens.”
“The day we swear, get to work,” Richardson told WRAL News. “When we focus on a specific problem, magic happens.”
The legislator should focus on solutions instead of launch issues, he said. But a legislative oversight committee already plans to step up efforts to distribute the vaccine during a meeting next week.
“This is unprecedented and we will make mistakes,” Richardson said.