Triangle health departments hustle to use COVID vaccines before they expire

When coronavirus vaccines arrived early this year, lots of North Carolinians did whatever it took to get the shots. They drove hundreds of miles, joined random lines in pharmacies and searched online late into the night for appointments slots.

By mid-April, however, things changed. Demand dropped dramatically. Now, county health departments in the Triangle are left with a potential surplus of vaccines, with thousands set to expire by the end of this month.

“Gone are the days of people beating down the doors, all but demanding the vaccine,” said Rodney Jenkins, Durham County’s health director.

Demand for vaccines is rising again, according to N.C. Department of Health and Human Services data. This may be due to fear of the rise of the more contagious delta variant, said Wake County Public Health communications manager Stacy Beard.

What’s not clear is whether this will help local health departments use all the vaccine doses they have on hand before some expire, a risk that is occurring nationally.

Vaccines don’t last forever

Different types of vaccines remain viable for different periods of time.



The Food and Drug Administration recently extended the shelf life of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by six weeks, for example. That prolonged Wake County’s deadline to use 2,100 doses to Sept. 21.

But Wake County had 4,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses set to expire by Aug. 31, as of Aug. 6, officials there said.

Durham County had 1,278 Pfizer vaccine doses that must be used by Aug. 31, as of Aug. 5, officials there said. The county health department also had 425 Johnson & Johnson doses set to expire on Sept. 21.

Orange County had 150 Pfizer vaccine doses scheduled to expire on Aug. 31 as of Aug. 6, staff there said. They also had 20 Johnson & Johnson doses expiring on Sept. 21.

To better protect everyone from a more contagious coronavirus, health workers are hustling to get shots into people’s arms, which may prevent these doses from getting wasted.

In Wake County, canvassers have been going door-to-door to deliver vaccines on doorsteps, said Beard. They go where people are, including to lobbies of arenas where hockey games are played to vaccinate people when they come in, she said.

Durham County is also taking steps to bring vaccines to hesitant people. The county health department is partnering with state health officials to expand vaccinations among historically marginalized communities, including people of color.

In addition to going door-to-door, too, they are hosting phone banks and sending text alerts.

Managing supplies

The Durham health department has strategies to cut down waste, Jenkins said. Durham health department’s vaccination team holds weekly meetings to predict how many doses they should order based on recent demand, Jenkins said.

That “mindset” has reduced the risk of having vaccine doses already in house expire, he said.

Research shows that people want to take the vaccine in places where they trust, Beard said. “A lot of times that is their friendly neighborhood pharmacist,” she added.

All three counties send vaccines to local pharmacies and doctor offices, part of the effort to increase where people can get the protective shots.

County health departments also send surplus vaccines to each other. Wake County Public Health, for example, has sent vaccines to Johnston and Granville counties.

The goal is clear cut: “to exhaust our supply in a manner that allows us not to worry about vaccine expiration,” Jenkins said.

This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 10:00 AM.