Durham County, low on COVID vaccine, stops taking appointments for shots
Update: Durham County will receive 1,300 doses this coming week, according to information received Saturday by The News & Observer.
The Durham County Department of Public Health will temporarily stop making appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine because of limited supply, but current appointments won’t be canceled.
The county, which just this week announced plans for a mass-vaccination megasite opening next month, has closed its vaccine appointment scheduling line and will not add new vaccination dates, officials said in a news release Thursday.
It could be late February before the county resumes making appointments, the release stated.
“No currently scheduled vaccine appointments will be canceled or postponed, though some appointments beginning Monday, Feb. 1 will be moved from our Health Department location to the Southern High School location,” the release stated. “Individuals whose appointments must be moved to Southern High School will be contacted by phone or email.”
The approved coronavirus vaccines require two shots spaced weeks apart. Durham County expects to get only 600 first doses each week for the next three weeks, “and we are uncertain when our allocation will increase,” Health Director Rod Jenkins said in the release.
“The unfortunate reality is that demand is far outpacing supply,” he said.
Triangle counties have substantial spread
According to a DHHS report covering Jan. 3-16, Durham County, along with Wake and Orange counties, are labeled “orange” under the state’s coronavirus alert map, meaning they have a substantial amount of community spread of the virus.
Here are some key metrics for Durham County:
▪ The county had 19,573 total COVID-19 cases and 185 total deaths as of Friday morning, according to the county’s website.
▪ The estimated percentage of positive coronavirus tests in the county from Jan. 10 to 16, the latest week with available data, was 8.4%, above the 5% or lower that state health officials want to see in the state.
▪ There have been 36,509 doses of vaccine administered in Durham County as of Friday: 28,399 first doses and 8,110 second doses.
The Health Department has not responded yet to The News & Observer’s questions about how many people are on the wait list and the current wait time for the vaccine.
People in vaccination Groups 1 and 2 may still sign up for the county’s vaccine waitlist at tinyurl.com/DCoVaccineWaitlist in English or tinyurl.com/DCoListaVacunas in Spanish to receive a call if vaccine doses become available due to appointment cancellations or no-shows.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 8:10 AM.