The Craven County Health Department turned 100 years old this year.
You may be tempted to only think of vaccinations and COVID records when you think about the department right now, but the health department has a much broader scope, serving as the county’s watchdog for everything from health to sanitation since its inception.
“January 25, 1921 is when it all started,’ Scott Harrelson, the department’s current director, said. The world had just gone through the Spanish Flu epidemic, which killed 50 million worldwide and 13,000 in North Carolina.
But the Flu was hardly the county’s only health problem at the time. “Even before the Spanish flu,” Harrelson said, “these guys painted this picture of New Bern years ago: there was no sewage system, they had rat Infestation, they had malaria in the area. They had yellow fever, they had typhoid, they had smallpox. They had nobody going out checking sanitation for food sources or water sources. They dumped their trash at the
If you’re a numbers kind of person, here are some statistics regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine war in the region.
Remember that data is a tricky thing, and the numbers depend on the sources. State figures rarely match local figures. For instance, while the NCDHHS has listed Craven with having given 14,922 first doses of vaccine as of March 3, the county’s figures list that number as 14,314. This article uses NCDHHS figures.
Here are the figures given by NCDHHS, COVID and vaccine-wise in area counties:
COVID, as of March 3:
Statewide, on March 3rd, 2,145 cases were reported, compared to a high of 12,079 on February 3. 24,503 tests had been administered compared to a high of 68,640 on February 4. 1,303 people were hospitalized as compared to a high of 2,789 on January 31st. The total cases of COVID in the state are 865,554 out of an estimated statewide population of 10,488,084. The total deaths have been 11,389. That means that roughly 8 percent of the state’s residents have
Craven County Health Director Scott Harrelson believes that the county is seeing the light at the end of the COVID tunnel as more senior residents are inoculated and the number of people qualified to receive their shots is enlarged.
He noted that while, in the past, registrations for the vaccine would fill in a matter of half an hour, now they are remaining open longer – a sign that the vaccination process is going well. “We had over 250 appointments open for over 24 hours,” he said. “That’s the first time we had that. With less demand, we decided to open to teachers and daycare workers.”
Craven County is setting up clinics in out-of-the-way places so the underserved community can get their vaccine stick.
Consider it a shot in the arm for those who are having a harder time getting into the city for their shot in the arm.
Several clinics in outlying areas of the county have been set in Harlowe and Cove City, while Vanceboro could see a clinic of its own. The Harlowe one runs 1:30 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the community center on Godette School Road, but it’s too late to sign up: Health Director Scott Harrelson said that 80-to-90 seniors will get their vaccines over the course of the day.
Sun Journal
Craven County Health Director Scott Harrelson has announced a delay in this week’s COVID vaccine clinic at the Riverfront Convention Center. Due to delivery delays caused by severe weather, “We are rescheduling our second shot doses scheduled for next Tuesday,” he said. “If the vaccine does not arrive by Tuesday we will also have to reschedule our second dose clinic for Wednesday as well.”
Anyone scheduled for the clinic will be notified with their new appointment time by phone, email and text. The make up day will be Friday, February 26. Appointments will be at the same time as the original appointment time.