03/29/2024
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Bladen County Health and Human Services Director, Dr. Teresa (Terri) Duncan confirmed Bladen County would be one of the first to receive the much anticipated COVID-19 vaccine for the most at risk population. Bladen County Hospital is now on the list to receive the vaccine as early as next week.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced last week, North Carolina is preparing for the distribution of 84,800 COVID-19 vaccines. During a press conference Gov. Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen warned citizens about the increase of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Dr.  Cohen said, “Our trends are worrisome. People are going to emergency department and the percent of positive is up. Too many people are becoming seriously ill with COVID.”

Gov. Copper offered hope explaining the potential FDA authorization of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Plan laid out this fall states, “limited COVID-19 vaccine doses may be available during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2020, but this supply will increase substantially in 2021. Initial supply of COVID-19 vaccines will most likely be authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) rather than a full Biologic License Approval issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

The North Carolina COVID-19 Vaccination Plan includes four [4] phases of operation:

1. Planning (Phase 0)

2. Implementation (Phase 1)

3. Adjustment (Phase 2)

4. Transition (Phase 3)

North Carolina is close to moving on to Phase 1 for the COVID-19 vaccine. During the Phase 1, implementation will begin when the first vaccine doses are allocated to North Carolina. In this initial phase, vaccine supplies will be very limited and targeted to those priority populations identified in the planning phase. The first expected to receive the vaccine are workers at high risk of exposure, essential workers (e.g., emergency management, fire, etc.), and long-term care staff and residents. These vaccines will most likely be administered in closed settings for employees or residents.

Gov. Cooper explained, NC is expecting the first vaccine shipment from Pfizer because it was the first to receive authorizations.

He said, “So we think that is what would be available and approved first.”

According to Gov. Cooper the state officials anticipate a vaccine distribution next week, which would be around December 15 or 16. There are 84,800 doses to be received with the first shipment, according to reports.

Gov. Cooper announced the vaccine will be free.

According to NCDHHS the first shipment of vaccines will go to Bladen County Hospital, Caldwell Memorial Hospital, CarolinaEast Medical Center, Catawba Valley Medical Center, Cape Fear Valley Health System, Duke University Health System, Margaret R. Pardee Memorial Hospital, Hoke Hospital, The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, Wake Forest Baptist Health.

According to the plan, vaccines require cold chain storage and handling requirements for each COVID-19 vaccine product will vary from refrigerated (2°C) to frozen (-20°C) to ultra-cold (-60° to -80°C) temperatures, and ongoing stability testing may impact these requirements.

More vaccines should be available week over week after the first initial distribution.

Gov. Cooper explained, “When we get a second vaccine, we will be getting weekly doses of both vaccines and we will the work through our populations that we have prioritized. So we can’t say exactly when we will get to adults with two or more conditions but we believe it will be in January.”

View the COVID-19 plan linked below.

https://files.nc.gov/covid/documents/NC-COVID-19-Vaccine-Plan-with-Executive-Summary.pdf

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