“The first doses are going to go to healthcare providers that actively deal with COVID,” Moser said.
Pender County submitted a list to the state for review of 307 healthcare workers who are in close contact with patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and who want to receiving the vaccine. They will be among the first to get it.
The remaining doses will be given to healthcare providers who may have been left off the initial list or who have changed their mind about receiving the vaccine.
If they have extra doses, the county will begin contacting people who might have indirect contact with COVID-19 patients, including morticians and workers who clean in health settings.
This COVID-19 vaccine administration, called phase 1A will be the first of five phases.
Priest said officials expect administration to reach the last phase by the end of the first or second quarter of 2021. The phases are general guidelines and the end goal is to get as many people vaccinated as we can, he said. We re not going to split hairs in between the phases, he said. This is too massive of an operation to really start debating things on one individual, if they re willing to get it and they re generally in the right phase. We re looking for and are hopeful for enthusiasm around getting the vaccine and knowing that no matter what this is going to be a little messy, on a national level, a state level, it s not going to be perfect and we re going to get to where we need to get to working through those kinds of details, he continued.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center expects to receive nearly 3,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday.
As of Tuesday, New Hanover County reported a total of 8,267 total positive COVID-19 cases, with 1,326 cases listed as active. There have been 68 deaths in the county due to COVID-19.The 2,925 doses will be kept at the medical center s 17th Street campus. Vaccinations for healthcare workers will begin as early as Friday, according to an email from the hospital late Tuesday.