Health department vaccine waitlist nears 20,000 in Henderson County blueridgenow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from blueridgenow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pardee UNC Health Care, in partnership with Blue Ridge Health, will begin vaccinating Henderson County Public Schools employees Wednesday.
School and child care employees qualify for the vaccine under the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Group 3.
HCPS personnel won t be required to get a vaccine. Those who do want it will be vaccinated quickly, according to a statement from Pardee UNC Health Care spokeswoman Erica Allison.
Groups 1 and 2 (health care workers, long-term care staff and residents and adults 65 years and older) will continue to receive vaccines as well. The Henderson County Health Department will remain focused on vaccinating individuals who are 65 and older.
Hendersonville Times-News
Recent diversion efforts by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services have caused shortages for some vaccine providers across the state.
Pardee UNC Health Care announced Wednesday that the vaccine allocation for the upcoming week that was originally anticipated will not be received. As a result, first dose vaccine appointments scheduled for the week of Feb. 1 will be rescheduled, according to a news release from Pardee. All second dose appointments will be kept.
NCDHHS has recently shifted a large portion of doses toward large-scale vaccination events, including events at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Bank of America Stadium.
Earlier coverage:
When the Henderson County Department of Public Health began scheduling appointments for the Covid-19 vaccinattion a week ago, it had 1,000 appointments available. All were booked within the seven hours the call center was open.
On Jan. 13 the call center received approximately 19,000 telephone calls for 600 appointments that were still available. With calls overwhelming the phone system, the Health Department expanded the call system on Monday. Henderson County obligates all vaccines within the first 48 hours of receiving them. On Wednesday, Jan. 20, with a new supply of doses in hand and the enhanced call system in place, the Department of Public Health will again begin booking approximately 700 appointments. The call volume is expected to be heavy.
HENDERSONVILLE Jamie Kilpatrick is a registered nurse who works with COVID-19 patients every shift. Her father is at high risk after a recent heart attack and she hasn’t set foot in her parents’ house in more than a year.
Tuesday, she was the second person in line to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in Western North Carolina, hoping to give people confidence in the vaccine and help turn the corner on the pandemic that’s spreading at the highest rates ever in Western North Carolina.
“It is definitely a sense of relief,” she said. “Just that it’s available now.”