What if businesses want to host walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinics?
What if businesses want to host walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinics? By Jon Evans | May 3, 2021 at 4:03 PM EDT - Updated May 3 at 5:42 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Governor Roy Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, said last week the state’s indoor mask mandate could potentially be lifted once two-thirds of the state’s adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. As of May 3, that total stands at 49.6 percent.
Some businesses in North Carolina have teamed up with providers to host free-walk-in vaccine clinics, and have even offered incentives to people who come in for their injection. David Howard, the health director in New Hanover County, says the health department is open to helping businesses that might want to host a clinic.
As demand for the COVID-19 vaccine begins to decline throughout the state, some local health officials say herd immunity may not be as achievable as they once hoped.
For nearly a year now, people have put their sights on reaching the point when enough people have antibodies from being infected or receiving a vaccine to ultimately stop the spread of the virus and end the pandemic. National leaders said that number could be anywhere between 70% and 90%.
Now, health officials are saying there’s no clear indication on when – or if – the country and smaller communities within it will reach herd immunity. Even after more than 50% of Americans have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, about a quarter of Americans still say they don’t plan on getting vaccinated, making large-scale immunity nearly impossible.
Brunswick County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, and its emergency services is working hard to keep up with that growth.
In 2017, the StarNews reported that Brunswick County EMS was in need of additional ambulances to keep up with the population growth. Four years later, the population is still growing rapidly right alongside the nationwide shortage of health care professionals.
Edward Conrow, the Brunswick County EMS director for two years with more than 30 years of EMS experience said, Nationwide, everyone is going through the same thing. We are always working to keep a full staff, and I don t think that s unique to anybody (working in similar fields).
More people under 65 are hospitalized with COVID-19 than senior citizens in New Hanover County for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
That’s because of vaccination rates and the impact of variant strains of the virus, said Dr. West Paul, chief clinical officer at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
“We still have younger people in the ICU. That s not a great place, so we would like to see this stop,” Paul said.
Across the country, 80% of people age 65 or older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. North Carolina is consistent with the nation, with around 77% of adults 65 or older vaccinated, and Paul said New Hanover is similar.
Winston-Salem resident Antonio Burns helped rescue two girls at Kure Beach
Antonio Burns, a Winston-Salem photographer and videographer, was getting out of the water April 18 at Kure Beach when a nearby friend told him that he saw two girls struggling offshore.
âStop playing,â Burns said to his friend, but then he looked and also realized that the girls were in distress.
âI felt that they didnât know how to swim,â Burns said. âEverything happened so fast.â
Burns, 27, then joined four other beach-goers who entered the water to try to reach the girls who appeared to be about 30 yards offshore. Burns, a graduate of the Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, described himself as an average swimmer.