âSo I can hang with my friendsâ; Children 12 and up get COVID-19 vaccine across Charlotte
Young teens getting vaccinated in Charlotte By Caroline Hicks | May 13, 2021 at 4:55 PM EDT - Updated May 13 at 6:03 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Children between 12 and 15 years old are now turning out at vaccine sites across Charlotte for their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
Wednesday afternoon, the CDC director gave the greenlight to allow vaccine providers to start offering the shot to this age group.
Fifteen-year-old Elise Arnold and her mother Charity showed up to Novant Healthâs east Charlotte site as soon as news came in that it was finally her turn.
Platforms are being developed to help more people get vaccinated. Source by: Stringr
Half of the adults in North Carolina have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the state Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday.
The DHHS COVID-19 dashboard lists 3.89 million adults with one dose, or 50.1%, and just under 3.3 million as fully vaccinated, or 43.1%.
Meanwhile, with 1,798 new cases reported Thursday, the state moved closer toward having 1 million North Carolinians infected by the coronavirus since mid-March 2020.
The statewide count is now at 978,566.
âThis is a significant milestone toward our goal of stopping the spread of COVID-19 and bringing summer back to North Carolina,â said Dr. Mandy Cohen, the stateâs health secretary.
WCCB Charlotte s CW
May 5, 2021
CHARLOTTE, NC – Vaccination rates across the country are slowing. Local and national health experts warn that achieving herd immunity may not be possible as new variants arise and people decline the shot.
“The optimist in me wants to believe that everyone who can get the vaccine will get the vaccine,” said Novant Health Dr. David Priest, “but I don’t think that’s going to happen at this stage.”
Novant Health Dr. David Priest gave a mixed report on Tuesday. Hospitalizations and new case rates remain flat, but vaccinations are slowing.
“I would hope that if people won’t get vaccinated for themselves or their families that they’ll do it to help our collective community get back to normal,” said Dr. Priest.
Daily COVID-19 case counts increased modestly in Forsyth County and statewide after reaching four-week lows on Tuesday.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported Wednesday that Forsyth had 44 new cases. That s up from 27 in Tuesday s report â the lowest daily count since 13 were reported on April 6.
The average daily case count in Forsyth has been at 62 over the past two weeks. That was up from 45 in the previous two-week period, according to Forsyth health director Joshua Swift.
Overall, there have been 35,494 cases in Forsyth during the pandemic.
No additional COVID-19 related deaths were reported, with the total remaining at 374.
Health experts predict we will not reach herd immunity, what it means for the future with COVID-19
Is herd immunity even possible? By Kristi O Connor | May 5, 2021 at 1:19 PM EDT - Updated May 5 at 6:28 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Herd immunity was the goal to end the COVID-19 pandemic, but as demand for the vaccine is dropping, public health experts now say it is unrealistic to assume we will reach that goal anytime soon.
“Public health experts and scientist believe herd immunity is not obtainable in the foreseeable future and possibly, not ever,” Novant Health Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. David Priest said. “I do agree with that in terms of herd immunity and whether we can get there. The optimist in me hopes that whoever can get the vaccine, will get the vaccine but I don’t think it’s going to happen at this stage.”