Over 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have now been administered in NC
North Carolina reported Thursday that over 3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in North Carolina.
Of the three vaccines that the state is currently offering, the ones from Pfizer and Moderna require two doses, given a few weeks apart, to be fully effective against the virus.
Between these two vaccines, nearly 1.9 million first doses and 1.2 million second doses have been administered.
The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose to be effective, but the state has only received about 80,000 doses of the J&J vaccine so far.
As of Thursday, nearly 1.2 million North Carolinians are fully vaccinated from COVID-19, having either received both doses from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-shot dose from Johnson & Johnson.
All of these doses have been administered since the state first started offering vaccines in mid-December.
New cases and hospitalizations continue to fall
The state Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,061 new COVID cases Thursday.
That’s 200 more from Wednesday’s count, but over the last week, DHHS has reported an average of 1,681 new cases per day.
That seven-day average has been decreasing since mid-January.
Hospitalizations due to the virus dropped to 1,039, the fewest reported in a day since Oct. 10.
Among the tests reported on Tuesday, the latest day with available data, 3.8% returned positive.
Over the last week of available data, DHHS has reported an average percent positive rate of 4.6% per day.
That meets the state’s benchmark of 5% or less for the fourth straight day.
COVID-19 data of the day
Case and hospitalization data reported by DHHS are preliminary and subject to change upon further investigation. Here are additional statistics reported Thursday, with changes from the previous day:
- Total cases: 879,825 (+2,061)
- Deaths: 11,595 (+27)
- Tests: 10,652,888 (+45,449)
- People hospitalized: 1,039 (-44)
- COVID-19 adult ICU patients: 287 (+5)
- Available ICU beds: 591 (-18)
- Available inpatient beds: 5,629 (-107)
- Patients on ventilators: 888 (-37)
Inpatient and ICU beds are not all used by COVID-19 patients, according to DHHS.
Deaths do not all occur on the date they are reported. DHHS updates its numbers as information becomes available. For example, according to the latest DHHS data, the deadliest day of the pandemic was Jan. 15 when 122 people died.
Vaccine statistics reported Thursday:
- First doses arrived: 1,918,820
- First doses administered: 1,768,450 (92%)
- Second doses arrived: 1,213,775
- Second doses administered: 1,057,783 (87%)
- Single shot doses arrived: 83,700
- Single shot doses administered: 21,859 (26%)
Vaccine doses administered in North Carolina through the federal, long-term care program:
- First doses arrived: 145,900
- First doses administered: 125,672 (86%)
- Second doses arrived: 145,900
- Second doses administered: 96,969 (66%)
Overall vaccine statistics:
- Total doses administered: 3,070,733
- Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,176,611
- Percent of population partially vaccinated: 18.1%
- Percent of population fully vaccinated: 11.2%
Breakdown of those vaccinated by race vs. percentage of total population:
- American Indian or Alaskan Native: 0.7% (1.7%)
- Asian or Pacific Islander: 2.5% (3.5%)
- Black or African-American: 14% (23.1%)
- White: 78.7% (71.7%)
By ethnicity:
- Hispanic: 2.5% (9.8%)
- Non-Hispanic: 97.1% (90.2%)
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated the incorrect number of administered first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 12:56 PM.