With capacity restrictions lifted, mask mandates mostly eliminated, and COVID-19 case numbers still on the decline, local health officials are turning their attention to keeping the virus at bay for the long term – by getting as many residents vaccinated as they can.
“We’re doing really well in Orange County,” says county health director Quintana Stewart of the vaccination process.
As of Friday, exactly 50 percent of the county’s total population, including kids who aren’t yet eligible, had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. That’s the third-highest vaccination rate in the state, ahead of fourth-place Durham County (42.5 percent) and trailing only Hyde (50.7 percent) and Dare (50.3 percent).
“We’re doing well, but there’s still room,” Stewart says. “We want as many folks as possible to get vaccinated.”
Those eligible for vaccination now includes children as young as 12 after the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for them earlier this month. Orange County health officials are now reaching out to that age group in particular, with pop-up vaccination events this Saturday, May 22, from 9 am to 2 pm at Culbreth, Phillips, and Smith Middle Schools.
Visit this page for information about the Culbreth clinic.
Stewart says local residents have been excited about the ability to get their kids vaccinated.
“It’s really been received well,” she says of the FDA’s decision. “I had a chance to go out to a [vaccination] site and I saw whole families waiting to be vaccinated…and the parents explained, ‘we were always going to be vaccinated, we just wanted to wait and do it when the children were eligible.’ So it was a wonderful thing to see.”
Stewart says she and her team have worked to make the vaccine easily accessible to everyone in Orange County, with pop-up clinics at flea markets, community centers, and mobile home parks as well as the schools. “We try to take the vaccine out into the community, because we realize that it may be a barrier for folks to come to us,” she says.
At the same time, the health department has also stepped up efforts to spread information about the vaccines, as well as the shots themselves.
“Right now what we’re facing is a little bit of hesitancy, because folks still have questions,” says Stewart. “So we’re continuing with our educational efforts. We go to the community, we answer any questions they may have – and we’ve added nursing to our call center line, so [if] folks call and they have medical questions about the vaccine, there’s a nurse who can talk to them.”
Stewart says the most common questions stem from a false rumor that the vaccine might affect fertility. “We’ve had lots of questions around will it impact [one’s] ability to become pregnant, or will it harm any stages of the pregnancy,” she says. “And the answer is no. There’s no data right now that shows that the COVID vaccine impacts your pregnancy in an adverse way.”
And whether you’re fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, or not yet vaccinated, Stewart says it’s still important to take precautions as we enter the summer, even without mask mandates or capacity restrictions.
“Be mindful that a large percentage of our children are still not yet vaccinated,” she says. “So continue to wear your mask when you know you’re going to be around a large group of folks in our younger population.”
If you want to schedule an appointment to get your vaccine, you can visit MySpot.NC.gov and search by zip code for a list of nearby sites.
The Orange County Health Department also has a call center where you can schedule an appointment or speak to a nurse to get your questions answered. That number is 919-913-8088.
Quintana Stewart spoke on Friday with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck. Listen to their full conversation:
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