Spectrum Center confirmed as Charlotte’s latest COVID mass vaccination site

Spectrum Center, home to the Charlotte Hornets in uptown, will be transformed into a mass vaccination clinic next Saturday, Feb. 13, Novant Health announced Friday.

People ages 65 and older are eligible to get their COVID-19 shots there, Novant said. It’s unclear how many appointments are available, although scheduling will be based on Novant’s special vaccine allotment.

Novant says the site, which is near public transportation and parking, bolsters the community’s access to vaccines. The event follows other recent mass vaccination events in the region, including at Bank of America Stadium and the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Novant said accessibility for all community members, regardless of ZIP code, is a priority.

Novant Health infectious diseases specialist Dr. David Priest said the hospital system has administered more than 66,000 vaccine doses so far among employees and patients.

Doctors and health officials are scrambling to get the public vaccinated before more contagious mutations of the virus, including a strain from the United Kingdom, unleash another surge.

“Today, we’re happy with how the vaccines are performing against those variants,” Priest told reporters Friday. “That could change — that is possible, you could not have protection in the future if we don’t get this under further control.”

Vaccine equity

Novant has also coordinated smaller vaccine clinics this weekend, aimed at targeting marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, said Novant vice president of consumer engagement Dr. Jerome Williams Jr.

That includes an appointment-only event — already booked, with a waitlist — at the Park Expo & Conference Center, near another large community vaccination location at Bojangles Coliseum. The goal is vaccinate more than 3,000 people, according to Novant. The hospital system will help schedule second-dose appointments to ensure patients receive full protection from the virus.

“We have an intentional strategy of ensuring that those high-risk individuals, those most vulnerable, those in the priority ZIP codes have access to the vaccine,” Williams said. “Through partnerships, pastors, parish nurses, leaders in the community, we partner with them to identify targeted individuals either through their congregation or through their organizations to register those individuals in advance.”

But local vaccine distribution data show disparities have plagued the roll-out of severely limited doses.

More than two-thirds of the people vaccinated by Mecklenburg Public Health are white, the Observer reported earlier this week. By comparison, only 16% of the county’s vaccine supply immunized Black residents.

This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 1:14 PM.