The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced the first 11 facilities that will receive the early shipments of the coronavirus vaccine Monday.
According to NCDHHS, the following medical facilities will be the first to receive the vaccine in the state:
- Bladen Healthcare LLC (Bladen County Hospital)
- Caldwell Memorial Hospital
- CarolinaEast Medical Center
- Catawba Valley Medical Center
- Cumberland County Hospital System Inc (Cape Fear Valley Health System)
- Duke University Health System
- Henderson County Hospital Corporation (Margaret R. Pardee Memorial Hospital)
- Hoke Healthcare LLC (Hoke Hospital)
- The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority (CMC Enterprise)
- University of North Carolina Shared Services Agreement
- Wake Forest Baptist Health
Health officials said more hospitals will also get vaccine shipments during Phase 1a of distribution.
“The COVID-19 vaccine will be free regardless of whether someone has health insurance. Health care providers are being enrolled in the vaccination program based on ability to reach priority populations. Trusted providers like hospitals will be among the first to vaccinate people,” Gov. Cooper said.
NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said the first people to receive the vaccine will be health care workers and long-term care residents and workers.
After that, the next group to receive the vaccine will be adults with two or more chronic conditions that put them at a higher risk for severe COVID-19 complications.
Cooper expressed confidence in the efficacy of the vaccine.
“I have confidence in this process. Health care workers, people in long-term care and those at risk for severe illness will come first. But when it’s my turn to get this vaccine, I’ll be ready to roll up my sleeve,” he said.
Cohen said North Carolina’s trends are “worrisome.”
“To give some perspective, just under 1,500 people died from the flu in the past 10 years. In just 11 months, COVID has killed more than three times that number,” Cohen said.
Last month, NC health officials launched a COVID-19 alert map for North Carolina.
You can see the alert map here.
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Source: Fox 8 News Channel