Mecklenburg County COVID update: Positive tests down, but number of cases still high
There was good news and bad news from the Presidents Day edition of the Mecklenburg County COVID-19 daily update.
The encouraging trend, according to county Public Health director Gibbie Harris, is that the metrics are continuing to slowly decline in Mecklenburg.
“Our positivity rate has dropped out of the red zone into the yellow, at 9.1%, which is great news, Harris said. But, “We still have 267 cases per 100,000 population in Mecklenburg County, which is still very much in the red. So we know that, although our numbers are moving in the right direction, this is a crucial time for us.”
Also a step in a positive direction is the launching this week of a new county website that allows community groups and organizations to request to co-host COVID-19 vaccine clinics.
The community-based clinics are part of a broader effort by the Public Health Department and local vaccine providers to ensure an equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, specifically among low-income, racial-ethnic minority, immigrant, refugee, homeless and other vulnerable populations in Mecklenburg.
“These requests will be closely monitored and prioritized in accordance with our vaccine equity plan,” county Public Health Medical Director Meg Sullivan said, “including specifically using our vaccine delivery location data to identify areas with gaps in vaccine delivery and/or uptake, with a particular focus on serving communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, underrepresented in COVID-19 vaccinations, or at highest risk for COVID-19 complications.”
Community-based clinics, the county has argued, provide low-barrier vaccine opportunities for those who might be limited by transportation, access to the Internet or may only be willing to come if invited by their community leader, faith leader or other person they trust.
To submit a request, to to mecknc.gov/COVID-19.
County officials acknowledged the vaccine rollout in Mecklenburg — as in so many other parts of the country — isn’t going as smoothly as they’d like.
Sullivan said Monday that more than 29,000 total doses of vaccine (more than 20,000 first doses and nearly 9,000 second doses) have been administered through the health department, but that number has fallen below projections because Public Health didn’t receive its vaccine shipment for the week of Feb. 9, partially due to inclement weather causing shipping delays.
Due to those delays, Sullivan said, approximately 1,000 second-dose appointments needed to be postponed.
She added that Public Health WAS scheduled to receive an additional 2,925 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week, although “unfortunately we are again hearing that there may be delays in the shipment due to the weather, and we’ll be monitoring that very closely.”
“Currently, we will be able to use the shipment that arrived on Saturday to continue to provide vaccine services, and we will keep the community promptly informed of any challenges or delays.”
The other challenge the county has been dealing with has to do with the opening up last Friday of COVID-19 vaccine appointments to Mecklenburg educators, including child care workers, school staff and pre-K through 12th grade teachers.
Those people were able to sign up (for appointments that fall on or after Feb. 24) beginning at 8:30 a.m. Friday and the level of interest was, not surprisingly, incredibly high. The website crashed and the county’s phone system became overwhelmed, almost immediately.
“Our staff worked as hard as we could to address it during the day,” Sullivan said.
By the afternoon, Public Health vaccine appointments were filled through March 9, according to the county.
“And we continue to work to be as responsive as possible to all calls, emails and voice mails that we continue to receive,” Sullivan said. “We do now have a large number of individuals on our wait list — the majority of whom are educators — and we will work as hard as possible to schedule appointments as allowed by vaccine availability and prioritization guidance.”
The county is also continuing to offer vaccines to health-care workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities and anyone age 65 and up.
People looking for a vaccine from the county can try to schedule an appointment online or call the vaccine hotline at 980-314-9400 Option 3.
Anyone unable to schedule an appointment can join the health department’s vaccine waitlist online.
People can also reach out to their primary health-care provider for information on the vaccine. Charlotte hospital systems Atrium Health and Novant Health are both offering vaccines to eligible people.
