FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) Cape Fear Valley Health is now welcoming all essential workers to schedule an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The health system officially starts first doses for the second part of Group 3 on Wednesday and is seeing a great response, according to registered nurse Kelly Grant. If you have a job, you qualify to come down and get the COVID-19 vaccine, Grant said.
The vaccine clinic was held at Cape Fear Valley s Health Pavilion North for most of the day.
Quentin Gilbert, an employee for the nearby Goodyear Tire and Rubber Plant, made a stop at the clinic right after work, describing what his day-to-day job looks like, on the floor, we can t separate. I m on a machine, but there s a machine right by my machine, and that s just the way it is in the plant.
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Cape Fear Valley Health is building a $30 million facility for its growing medical residency program.
The 120,000-square-feet Center for Medical Education and Research at the Melrose Road and Owen Drive also will be home of the health system’s Neuroscience Institute.
The health system held a groundbreaking ceremony for the center last month. Officials say the state-of-the-art facility is expected to attract residents, physicians and specialists to the area.
The residency program is a partnership between the health system and the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine at Campbell University.
Dr. Donald Maharty, Cape Fear Valley’s vice president for medical education, said the residency program has 133 residents, which is near its capacity. The new center will allow the program to expand to 300 residents and help train about 100 medical students from Campbell.
Michelle Sakala initially planned to hold off on getting the vaccine that protects against COVID-19.
She is a nurse with FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital and was eligible to receive it. But she was also breastfeeding her infant daughter, Monroe (think “Monroe” the president, not Marilyn, says Sakala, whose older daughter is named Kennedy.)
“I initially said no to the vaccine when it was first offered to me,” says Sakala, who is 35 and married to an Army major. “Just because it wasn’t advised for women, or the hospital said, ‘We don’t advise you receiving the vaccine if you’re breastfeeding.’
3% Hispanic
A trend also reflected in Cumberland County:
59% White
3% Hispanic
5% Asian or Pacific Islander
The new data revealing a disparity in who s getting the vaccine across the state. ABC11 spoke to Doctor Jennifer Green, the Health Director for the Cumberland County Department of Public Health, to hear her thoughts on the numbers. African Americans make up about 37 to 39 percent of our community. Hispanic members and Latin-X members of our community make up about 12 or 11 percent of our community. So, again, we d like to see those percentages jump just a little bit, Green said.
The disparity extends beyond race with the state total and Cumberland County both showing a more than 20 percent gap when the numbers are broken down by gender with more women receiving the first dose.