CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rolling out COVID-19 vaccines continues to be a challenging task for many county health departments as they struggle to balance the demand for the shots with the supply they are given.
The state tells vaccine providers how many doses to expect on Thursday or Friday, and those shipments usually arrive by the following Wednesday. But for many local health departments, that number changes week to week and makes it hard to plan clinics.
Smaller county health departments aren't receiving nearly as many vaccines as some of the larger health systems, and some of them didn't get any this week.
“If we can get vaccine, we will get it in arms,” Leeanne Whisnant, the Director of Health and Human Services in Alexander County, said.
The problem in Alexander County is for the last two weeks, they haven't been given any new, first doses of either vaccine.
“Personally, I’ve been pretty distraught because we want to get our community protected," Whisnant said. "We want to move on."
The county hasn’t opened appointments to people ages 65 to 74 just yet simply because they cannot meet that demand. There are 2,800 people on the waitlist in that group. Whisnant said, at this rate, getting those people vaccinated would take more than two weeks of the supply they were getting.
Like so many other counties across the state, Alexander County is in the red zone as the COVID-19 death toll there rises.
“It’s really increased anxiety levels," Whisnant said. "Lots of the community is very concerned."
Concern is spreading across the state.
In Rowan County, the health director wrote an open letter to the public to explain why vaccinations are moving at the current pace.
“We are doing all that we can, however, the situation is not with our method or how we're getting it out, it really is with the amount that we're allocated,” Rowan County Health Director Nina Oliver said.
But the need to quickly vaccinate people is dire, and all of it depends on how many vaccines providers are given. Those allocations are far from consistent.
“I wish the state would consider is a set allotment, so we know at a minimum we'd be getting, say, 300 every week," Oliver said. "But that’s not what’s going on right now. One week, we get 100; one week, we get 400."
This week, Rowan County will get 300 doses fewer than last week. At the request of several citizens, the county is now requiring appointments. The appointments opened at 10 a.m. Monday and all 300 appointment slots for this Wednesday were booked up in about 10 minutes.
“In the groups we're serving right now, there’s upwards of 25,000 folks," Oliver explained. "And we get 300. It doesn't really touch the amount of people we really need to focus on."
It’s a problem even the largest health systems are facing when planning large scale vaccination events.
“The biggest complexity that we navigate is just the allocations we receive,” Atrium Health's Kinneil Coltman said.
This past weekend, Atrium vaccinated 15,700 people at a mass-vaccination clinic at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Another event is planned for Bank of America Stadium this coming weekend.
Inconsistent shipments have made it so difficult for local health departments or hospitals to schedule appointments that the North Carolina Healthcare Association sent a note to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
“I think it’s the old adage, if you want to know how to do something, ask the people who are doing the work,” president and CEO of the North Carolina Healthcare Association Steve Lawler said.
The letter lists issues they want addressed immediately, including simplifying the state's data-logging system, advocating to the federal government for allocations specific for mass vaccination events and making allocations consistent.
“This really is about creating transparency, dependability and giving a level of predictability to the people who are doing the works so we can best care for patients,” Lawler said. He believes mass vaccination can be successful if these changes are made.
There are still appointments available for this weekend’s vaccination event at Bank of America Stadium. To make one visit: https://atriumhealth.org/about-us/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine.