Army veteran and retired firefighter Tony Trolio was more than happy to roll-up his sleeve on Tuesday as one of the first community members to receive the coronavirus vaccine as part of Operation FirstShot.
âIâm in the age group that is real susceptible and Iâm diabetic. I wanted to get the vaccine as soon as possible,â Trolio said.
Tony Trolio gives the thumbs up after receiving the coronavirus vaccine Tuesday. Ted Fitzgerald/The Pilot
FirstHealth of the Carolinas and Pinehurst Medical Clinic began contacting a prioritized list of eligible patients aged 75 and older last week to schedule appointments. Weekly vaccine clinics are tentatively scheduled every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Fair Barn in Pinehurst through the summer; however, the number of doses available each week will be determined by the stateâs allocation process.
Moore County has been placed under the most serious tier of the stateâs COVID-19 County Alert System.
Developed by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, the system uses color-coded tiers to identify counties where the virus is spreading most aggressively. Moore is now among the 65 counties included in the red tier, which denotes âcritical community spread.â
Counties are categorized based on âcase rates, the percent of tests that are positive and hospital impact within the county,â according to DHHS. Twenty-seven counties are included under the orange tier, which is reserved for counties experiencing âsubstantial community spread,â while eight counties are under the yellow tier, which denotes âsignificant community spread.â