Sanford, NC – The application for the coronavirus vaccine overwhelmed Lee County’s phone lines Monday morning after the county began accepting registrations from people with conditions that put them at higher risk for the virus.
Lee County was the first county in the area to start allowing people in group 4 of the state’s vaccine priority list to register for vaccinations.
By 10 a.m., county IT staff had to close the vaccine call center and set up a new number. Less than three hours later, county officials completely suspended registrations due to limited vaccine supply.
“The health department has the vaccine supply available to fill all currently scheduled vaccine clinics. New registrations will not be accepted until additional vaccines are provided,” officials said in a press release.
County spokesman Jamie Brown said opening the registration for people in group 4 is just a matter of maintaining a healthy waiting list for vaccinations.
“Like many other local health departments across the state, we are facing last-minute cancellations and no-shows at our vaccination clinics as individuals make more appointments in hopes of getting the vaccine sooner,” the spokesman said. word of the county, Jamie Brown, in an e-mail. the WRAL News. Although we understand the desire to be vaccinated as soon as possible, this has created a logistical problem for the health department as we plan for our clinics.
Dr. John Anderson, chief medical officer for Duke Primary Care, said making multiple appointments is the best option for people looking for a faster vaccination.
“It always helps to be proactive about it,” Anderson said, advising people to check with their primary care physicians, county health departments and providers such as Duke University’s health care system.
“A lot of smaller practices may not be able to administer the vaccine, but at least they can direct patients to where to go,” he said.
North Carolina providers have administered more than 2.8 million vaccinations to date, with 10.3 percent of the state’s population being fully vaccinated.
Duke Primary Care plans to open the first drive-th vaccination clinic on Tuesday at 5601 Arringdon Park Drive in Morrisville for people on the Duke Health waiting list.
“We wish we could give about 500 a day to get started,” Anderson said. “As we grow and improve, that number could increase.”
The clinic will offer the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine, which Anderson said works better in a drive-thru format because it requires less patient monitoring after vaccination than Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Another option: a mass vaccination site run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency opens Wednesday outside a Greensboro mall, with plans to manage up to 21,000 photos a week over the next eight weeks.
Michael Palmer, a Durham resident who is already 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, have friends who have received photos. So within this network of information, there are a lot of resources,” Palmer said.
Thomas Murray, who is not yet vaccinated, agreed.
“I think traveling by word of mouth, I feel like once you have a few friends who already know about it, plus everyone helps each other, I don’t think it should be too much of a problem,” Murray said.
Duke Health will likely not begin vaccinating anyone in Group 4 until March 24, which is the eligibility date set by state officials last week, Anderson said.
Brown also said Lee County will not start vaccinating anyone in that group until “later this month.” A Facebook post in the county said it could be as early as March 17, depending on the availability of the vaccine.
Other departments and health providers in the county in the area have stated that they do not intend to vaccinate Group 4 members before March 24.
“We are following the state guidelines and will begin registering people in Group 4 on March 24,” Orange County spokesman Tod McGee said in an email. “This does not mean we will have vaccines for them. People in groups 2 and 3 will still be in front of them in line.”
“We are currently continuing to work through our waiting list to vaccinate people in groups 1 to 3 who are on our waiting list. In the coming weeks, we intend to evaluate our waiting list and expand to additional groups when we will be able to, ”said Harnett County spokeswoman Ashley. Deans Bauer said in an email.
People should not be vaccinated in the same county where they live, according to the state.