NC front-line essential workers, adults with high-risk conditions move up COVID vaccine list
With the approval of a third COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday that front-line essential workers — a large, diverse group that includes grocery store workers, public transit drivers and emergency personnel — will be eligible for their shot a week ahead of schedule.
North Carolina also will begin moving early to Group 4 on March 24, Cooper said, starting with people who have medical conditions that put them at high risk from COVID-19, homeless people and people who are incarcerated who haven’t yet received a vaccine.
“Given the current rate of vaccination and increased supply, many providers say they can move to the next phase of vaccinations,” Cooper said.
Teachers, school support staff and child care providers became eligible for vaccinations across North Carolina on Feb. 24 — the first wave of what’s known as Group 3. Other other front-line essential workers were initially set to follow on March 10, but will now be eligible Wednesday.
“The third vaccine and improving vaccine supply will help us get more people vaccinated more quickly,” Cooper said at a news conference. “But as we’ve said before – we still don’t have enough vaccines. You may have to wait for an appointment even if today’s action means you are eligible to get vaccinated.”
Over the weekend, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson. North Carolina will receive 83,700 doses of the J&J vaccine this week, joining the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines that are already in use.
DHHS also updated Group 1 to include those who receive long-term home care. Group 4 also is updated and will now include people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as people with neurologic conditions like dementia.
Tuesday’s press conference comes exactly a year to the day that North Carolina’s first COVID-19 case was diagnosed with the state announcing it the next day on March 3, 2020. The Wake County man, who never was identified, was exposed to the coronavirus at a long-term care facility in Washington state, The N&O reported. Then, the case was considered an isolated one.
As of Tuesday, North Carolina has reported 863,409 cases with 11,288 residents succumbing to complications from the virus that has taken hold and permanently altered daily living across the globe.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution
Today, there are two vaccines being administered to thousands of residents every day, with the third expected to arrive this week.
Providers will offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at 43 events across 33 counties, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary. Cohen said DHHS chose those recipients after asking all providers if they are prepared to handle additional events this week, Cohen said.
“We have three vaccines that are safe and effective, and we want folks to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Cohen said.
Cohen said she is planning to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine later this week.
Cooper announced after the press conference that he is scheduled to get his vaccine Wednesday. Elected officials are part of the second phase of Group 3.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has two traits that experts and health officials believe will help increase the pace of the vaccination effort: It only requires one shot, meaning there are no follow-up appointments; and it can be stored in a refrigerator, instead of an ultra-cold freezer.
North Carolina will not receive any J&J doses next week, Cohen said. She expects the number of Johnson & Johnson doses to remain low for much of March while the company ramps up production.
“We’ve heard that it is forecasted that by the last week of March, first week of April we should be seeing a pickup in the number of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, and they expect to have even more than 80,000 doses per week after that point,” Cohen said.
While the state’s vaccination process is based on the honor system, Cohen urged people to consider their own circumstances before signing up for an appointment.
“Are you someone who needs to do their job in person — you’re coming into contact with customers? Or are you someone who can be working remotely?” Cohen said. “Because if you are able to work remotely, we’d ask you to wait for Group 4 or beyond.”
Vaccine providers should tell vaccine recipients which kind of vaccine they are receiving, Cohen said.
“It is important for them to know: Are they getting the one-shot vaccine or do they need to go to two separate appointments?” Cohen said.
A Kaiser Family Foundation study published last week found that 49% of North Carolina residents who are 65 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That’s the highest percentage in the country.
Cooper said North Carolina already is seeing that vaccinations “are likely having a positive effect” on the number of COVID-19 cases, percent positivity rate and hospitalizations, particularly when paired with the immunity many have naturally built by contracting COVID-19.
His latest executive order, which lifted the curfew and eased other capacity restrictions, is in place until March 26. Cooper said there isn’t a specific number of vaccinated North Carolinians officials will use as a benchmark for lifting restrictions in the future.
Teachers and schools
The decision to move teachers ahead of other front-line workers came during a push by Cooper and legislative Republicans for schools to return to in-person learning as soon as possible, a step 90 of the state’s 115 school districts have taken, with a few more planning to reopen this spring.
Cooper and Cohen also said they wanted to make sure North Carolina’s vaccination infrastructure would not be overwhelmed by a crush of newly eligible vaccine-seekers. By starting with the state’s 240,000 teachers, they hoped to move gradually into the second part of Group 3.
Cooper told reporters on Tuesday that school systems that haven’t set dates to return are being pushed to get students and educators back in the classroom. He said more action would be coming later this week.
Cooper vetoed a schools reopening bill last week that would have required an in-person learning option. The Senate failed to override his veto on Monday night, but more bills to reopen schools could be coming. Senate Bill 37 passed both chambers with bipartisan support, but not enough for the override vote.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 2:05 PM.