While COVID-19 vaccinations have drastically slowed in North Carolina, the UNC Health system across the state reached a milestone this week.
The health care system shared a release on Friday saying its hospitals and clinics have now administered more than 500,000 coronavirus vaccine doses, reaching the mark in just more than one year of the vaccine being available.
“We can count a half million vaccinations administered but what we can’t count is the huge number of lives that were saved, the ICU admissions prevented, and the families kept intact because of these unprecedented efforts,” said Dr. David Wohl, who has helped lead UNC Health’s COVID vaccination campaign. “Many of us would not be here right now if it was not for the hard work so many put in to make these vaccinations and boosters happen.”
As a state, North Carolina has administered more than 6.3 million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as nearly 5.9 million second doses and now more than 3 million booster shots. The first doses at UNC Health came on December 15, 2020, as hospital staff in Chapel Hill and Hillsborough received their shots and began the road to better prevention of the virus’ spread. Since then, more and more North Carolinians and Americans became eligible for vaccine shots based on their ages, pre-existing health conditions and jobs.
Select medical workers, including Loc Culp pictured here, received their first COVID-19 vaccines at the UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill on Dec. 15, 2020.
With the news of reaching the half-a-million milestone, UNC Health also released a video featuring hospital staff describing their experiences administering the COVID-19 vaccines and their importance to maintaining public health.
The system itself reiterated this in its release on Friday.
“The COVID vaccines have been proven safe and effective,” said UNC Health. “They remain the best tools for avoiding serious illness, hospitalization and death. UNC Health continues to encourage everyone who is eligible to get fully vaccinated.”
