Local health officials are advising Orange County residents to look elsewhere to get their shot due to a limited supply of vaccine in the county.
The Orange County Health Department is now able to vaccinate healthcare workers under Group 1, those 65 and older under Group 2, and educators and school personnel under Group 3. Educators across the state became eligible under the initial phase of Group 3 on Feb. 24.
With an estimated 240,000 more North Carolinians now eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine under the initial phase of Group 3, director of the Orange County Health Department Quintana Stewart said residents should look beyond their own county to get vaccinated.
“If it is feasible and folks are able to go next door to another county because they have vaccine and an appointment, then it’s okay,” Stewart said. “You can go. There’s no barriers to county residents with vaccination.”
Despite some frontline workers becoming eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, limited supply and lengthy waitlists across the state are expected to delay the process.
North Carolina only receives 150,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine each week. Of this allotment, the Orange County Health Department expects to receive only 500 doses per week for the next three weeks.
Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners Renee Price said while the county health department receives a very limited supply of vaccine, other providers – such as Hillsborough Pharmacy and Piedmont Health – are actively searching for people to register to get their shot.
“Meanwhile, the health department has a long waiting list,” Price said. “We have thousands of people on the waiting list and that’s because we started so early – right at the beginning when the vaccines were being announced and distributed. Now that these other providers have come online, they don’t have the waiting list that we do so they have spaces and people can make appointments and they’re looking for people.”
As of February 22, two days prior to educators becoming eligible, more than 10,300 people were on the Orange County Health Department’s vaccine waitlist. While the county does have a long line of eligible residents waiting to be vaccinated, Stewart said that number is “dropping drastically” each day.
The health department was recently able to remove 8,000 people from its waitlist after those residents had found their shot somewhere else.
“So as people find open slots in vaccine, they are going and getting their vaccine and then they are communicating with us and we can pull them off the list,” Stewart said. “I’m encouraged. I think we’ll get through our waitlist sooner rather than later – it will still take a couple weeks – but I’m confident we’re going to be able to supply vaccine to those who really want it.”
County health officials are now advising residents to remove themselves from any and all waitlists if and when they are vaccinated at another location.
“It is so important to please communicate and get off those waitlists,” Stewart said. “Otherwise, we spend time and effort when we get the vaccine and we’re calling you and trying to offer you an appointment when we could have moved on and got with someone else. So please let folks know when you need to come off the waitlist.”
As of Thursday, 2.2 million people in North Carolina have been vaccinated. In Orange County, 18 percent of residents have received their first dose.
Find a more comprehensive list of COVID-19 vaccine providers in the Orange County area here.
Editors note: One quote from Renee Price was initially credited to former county commissioner Penny Rich. Corrections have since been made.
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