Raleigh, NC – About 83,000 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine began arriving in North Carolina on Wednesday, giving counties more options as they try to vaccinate as many people as possible.
The State Department of Health and Human Services said the vaccine was initially targeted at providers in 33 counties, including seven in central North Carolina.
Wake County plans to split the 5,500 doses between dozens of pharmacies and doctors’ offices in the coming days, in an effort to push the vaccine to all corners of the county. The county has over 130 approved vaccine providers, but only a few dozen have received a vaccine in recent weeks due to limited supply.
“We thought to ourselves, can we find a way to help them bring them into a game?” said Ryan Jury, who oversees the county’s vaccination efforts. “The easiest way to do this was to say, ‘Hey, here are 50 doses or 100 doses. Why not get your feet wet and start getting vaccinated and figure out how you can be a part of this vaccine movement? “
In Durham County, the county health department plans to split the 1,400 doses between private school employees at a large vaccination event and marginalized communities through a partnership with North Carolina Central University and St. Louis County. Joseph AME Church.
Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease expert at Duke University’s health care system, said one benefit of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is that it requires a single shot. The existing vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are both two-shot regimens.
Duke Health received 5,000 doses of the new vaccine.
“I think it really gives us a lot of flexibility,” Wolfe said. “We [will] find target populations where it is logistically difficult to return to them or bring them to us for the second shot. “
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine also does not require super-cold storage, unlike the other two vaccines.
“We can move more easily into our health system or peripheral clinics,” Wolfe said.
Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease expert at UNC Health, acknowledged that some people have expressed reservations about the single-injection vaccine because clinical trials have shown that it is less effective than double-shot vaccines in preventing contracting. COVID-19.
“We have to be careful about how we do this,” Wohl said of administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to people. “We don’t want to force anyone to get a vaccine they don’t want. That’s not going to happen.”
UNC Health plans to use 3,600 of its vaccine doses at an educator-only clinic scheduled for March 8-10 at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.
Wolfe said people will not get the choice of vaccines when they go to shoot.
“If you try and delay waiting for what you perceive is a better vaccine, it’s only a matter of time before you leave COVID exposed,” he said. “I don’t think we should tie the knot in thinking which one is better than the other. The better it is that you can access.”
Wohl said he finally expects to see widespread acceptance of the single-dose vaccine.
“This vaccine works very well to prevent more severe disease, which is why we want to get a vaccine,” he said.
Durham Veterans Affairs Hospital participated in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine study. His role was fully investigated on Wednesday, when 400 doses arrived at the hospital.
“It is very interesting to see something in which we have been involved in determining safety and effectiveness [of] all of which suddenly materialize and I can now offer to veterans, “said Dr. Christopher Hostler, head of public health at Durham VA Hospital. It’s great to have a third weapon in our arsenal against this pandemic. “
Maggie Hanna, associate chief of pharmacy operations, said the VA plans to use the single vaccine to reach home veterans and those living in rural areas.
Other area providers receiving Johnson & Johnson doses include the following:
- OptumServe, a state-sponsored provider in Durham, received 3,000 doses for a series of meetings over several days.
- Vidant Health in Greenville received 12,000 doses – 2,000 more than requested by officials there.
- Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn receives 1,000 doses.
- FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst receives 1,100 doses.