Staff at Rockingham County Schools cleared to receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Staff will be able to visit the drive-thru clinic site at the local health department to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, February 24. Author: Brian Bennett Updated: 9:41 PM EST February 10, 2021
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. Rockingham County Schools (RCS) has announced that RCS COVID-19 vaccine clinics are now scheduled in collaboration with the local Rockingham County Health Department.
The school system revealed that Interested staff will be able to visit the drive-thru clinic site at the local health department to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.
Thousands call for appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Burke County every day. Only 1,000 get it each week.
By Friday, the county was out of vaccine for the public, Burke County Health Department Director Rebecca McLeod said.
Supply of the COVID-19 vaccine has been limited across North Carolina. There are only so many appointments available, and itâs frustrating for health care providers and the public, McLeod said.
âWeâve had a mass vaccination plan in place for 15 to 20 years, which we exercise, but if you donât have the vaccine to give people, it doesnât work the way it should,â she said. âHas it made people lose trust in us and has it made people mad at us? Yes, and Iâm sorry.â
Yet most other states managed to roll out the vaccine more quickly than North Carolina, which has so far administered only about one-third of its allotment. That speed matters, as federal officials have said future distributions may be based on how quickly states are putting shots into arms.
But exactly why North Carolina has fallen behind is complicated.
A survey of dozens of county health departments across the state by the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network shows a range of problems that have hampered their ability to vaccinate people in the first phase of the rollout namely front-line health workers and the elderly. Problems include:
The N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network surveyed local health departments across the state to find out why North Carolina has ranked near the bottom of states in administering the COVID-19 vaccine. We found a lack of manpower, technical problems and logistical hurdles.