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Vaccines
While Macon County Public Health waits for the state to increase its allocation of COVID-19 vaccines, the federal government is shipping 31,200 doses to Walgreens stores across North Carolina for public distribution under state guidelines beginning Friday, Feb. 12.
Walgreens will distribute 31,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine to 313 of its stores in North Carolina, according to a corporate news release. There are a total of 356 Walgreens locations in the state. A corporate spokesman said Tuesday, Feb. 9 that information on specific store locations and allocations was not yet available.
“We will continuously expand access as more vaccines are approved and vaccine inventory grows, and are looking to the spring for mass availability,” the spokesman said.
A representative of the Walgreens in Franklin reached by phone Tuesday declined to say whether that location will receive the vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worked with states to select initial pharmacy partners based on a number of factors, including their ability to reach some of the populations most at risk for severe illness from COVID-19, according to Walgreens.
For more information and to request a vaccination appointment from Walgreens, go to www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19.
MCPH waiting for more doses
Macon County Public Health, meanwhile, is waiting on word about when the state will increase the current allocation of 300 doses per week.
“Currently we have not gotten an update on what our vaccine supply will be after next week,” said Emily Ritter, a health department spokeswoman. “We hope that with increased production that our supply will continue to grow.”
The limited supply has hampered local vaccination efforts. More than a thousand vaccine appointments had to be rescheduled as a result. There are about 5,000 people on the waiting list.
The Macon County Call Center is taking calls at 828-524-1500 to get people registered for the COVID-19 vaccines. North Carolina does not require that those applying be residents of a certain county.
MCPH on Monday reported that two Macon County residents diagnosed with COVID-19 had died, bringing total virus-related deaths to 24.
As of Monday, Feb. 8, MCPH reported a total of 2,814 COVID cases since the pandemic began, up 95 from the previous week. Active positive cases stood at 480, down from 528 the previous week.