North Carolinians Over 65 Can Now Be Vaccinated, But Limited Supply Means They’ll Likely Wait

CHARLOTTE, NC – The number of COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continues to climb in North Carolina as there is now a greater effort to vaccinate people in the state. 

“We don’t want anything that will hold up having our vaccine providers feel like they can get out as many of those first doses as they can,” said State Health Director Dr. Mandy Cohen.

The state issued a change on Thursday. People over 65 years old can now get vaccinated. Those people along with health careworkers and long term care staff make up the two groups currently being vaccinated.  Frontline essential workers would be next, followed by adults with risk of being exposed or severe illness, and then everyone.

Reaching the 5th group will take months. 

“We want to stress that our vaccine supply is still limited and currently all our available appointments are booked through the end of January,” said Mecklenburg County Medical Director Dr. Meg Sullivan. 

In Mecklenburg county the effort to increase vaccinations is intensifying. 

“Plenty of logistics to work through, but absolutely on board with this being the right thing to do. Getting a bigger chunk of the at risk population vaccinated is just hugely important,” said Atrium Dr. Katie Passaretti.

The county COVID numbers continue to rise. Discussions about more restrictions are happening with policy makers. 

“While I understand the local economy and the impact on that, we have to be concerned about the number of cases in this community and we can’t just sit back while the cases continue to rise,” said Dena Diorio, the Mecklenburg County Manager. 

While most businesses do remain open, the new county directive asks people to stay home for unessential purposes and continue to distance. 

“The hope was to get people’s attention and to say this is really what you need to do. We’ve been asking you to do this. Now is the time to double down,” said Mecklenburg County Health Director Dr. Gibbie Harris. 

As of Thursday, 320,000 people in the state have been vaccinated. Dr. Cohen says vaccination rates are increasing, but supply remains low.

North Carolina only receives about 120,000 doses each week.