They had reasons for waiting. Here’s why some Charlotteans are getting COVID shots now.
Roughly 700 people signed up for appointments to get COVID-19 vaccines at Novant Health’s Baldwin Avenue vaccine site Tuesday.
The vaccines, first distributed in December 2020, have been widely available to the general public for months now. But almost 40% of Mecklenburg County residents still haven’t gotten any COVID-19 vaccine.
North Carolina doctors say demand for first doses has lessened but not stopped.
The vast majority of people at the Novant site Tuesday were already fully vaccinated — they were there to get booster doses.
But others, who have waited for months to get the shot, are now making appointments for a number of reasons: concern for new coronavirus variants like omicron, upcoming Christmas gathering plans or federal and employer vaccine requirements.
‘A lot of close calls’
At Novant on Tuesday, 35-year-old Timothy Garcia was one of roughly 50 people getting his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Garcia said he wasn’t against the vaccine, but he had many reasons for putting off the shots for months. He wanted to see how other people reacted to the shots over the year. And he wasn’t sure how to sign up for an appointment.
But on Tuesday, he decided the shot was worth it. Garcia is making personal changes in his life, including starting a better job with insurance, he said.
”I’m just trying to be proactive about my health now. Self care, along with mental care,” Garcia said. “Same thing with my family — we’ve had a lot of close calls. That kind of brought it to my attention that I need to be proactive.”
Garcia said he works at a quick lube station, so he interacts with a lot of people. And his job has been supportive of workers getting vaccinated. It isn’t required, but his company does provide paid time to get the shot, Garcia said.
So he talked to his Novant Health doctor.
“He basically gave me the road map to sign up to get the first dose from here,” he said.
‘Learn from the year’
Some 64% of Mecklenburg County residents of all ages have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines as of Thursday, state Department of Health and Human Services data shows. And 59% of county residents are fully vaccinated.
Novant Health emergency medicine specialist Dr. Charles Bregier said he’s seen a slight uptick in first-time COVID-19 shots in recent months.
“For a couple of different reasons,” he said. “One is that we’re having more variants and people are worried.”
Experts are still learning about omicron, the latest coronavirus variant of concern. So far, it seems existing COVID-19 vaccines provide protection from variants, Bregier said.
And Bregier said people originally hesitant about vaccines may be more likely to get the vaccine after waiting a year.
“Many, many billions of doses have been administered, and (there’s a) very low rate of adverse effects from these vaccines,” he said. “COVID is a bad infection. … So let’s learn from the year.”
Pfizer vaccine for kids
Alexa Clarkson-Coln, 13, was also getting her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday at Novant.
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is available for anyone ages 12 and older. In November, federal agencies signed off on a pediatric dose of the vaccine for children ages 5 through 11.
Clarkson-Coln wanted to get vaccinated because both of her parents work in a hospital.
“We’re proud of her for choosing to do it,” her dad, Jody Coln, said.
One woman, Harrisburg resident Victoria White, got her first dose of the vaccine back in March as a local government worker.
She got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine then, so she was back on Tuesday to get a J&J booster, which was authorized in October.
Her 8-year-old son, Cooper, recently got his vaccine after the pediatric dose was authorized.
“I got him the first available one,” she said. “As quick as I could. I’ve seen a lot of people get really sick who didn’t get vaccinated.”
Federal COVID vaccine requirement
At least one person getting the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Novant’s clinic Tuesday was less enthusiastic about getting a shot.
One 24-year-old woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she didn’t want to be identified publicly disagreeing with vaccinations, said she works in the health care industry and was getting the vaccine only because her employer falls under the federal vaccine requirement.
She said she didn’t want to get the vaccine earlier because she is young and healthy, and didn’t think she needed it. But she didn’t want to lose her job and knew she would have trouble finding another in her field without the vaccine, she said.
Even young, healthy people should get the COVID-19 vaccines, which can protect from hospitalizations, public health experts say.
Almost all people hospitalized with the coronavirus are unvaccinated, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist infectious disease expert Dr. Christopher Ohl said Thursday.
Though the reluctant health care worker was unhappy with the federal vaccine requirement, Bregier said it has made a difference in boosting local vaccination rates and reducing COVID-19 infections.
That “ultimately is going to help bring an end to this pandemic more quickly,” he said.
Yearning for normal
Along with COVID-19 variants and vaccine requirements, some people are likely getting the vaccine now because they want to put the pandemic behind them, Bregier said.
The country has seen a number of ebbs and surges in COVID-19 spread. And some people who were originally hesitant may be realizing that getting a vaccine is the best way to put an end to the pandemic and coronavirus restrictions, Bregier said.
Plus, people want to travel and gather with family and friends over the holidays. Some are likely getting ultimatums from family members: Get vaccinated, or we can’t see you, Bregier said.
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 6:20 AM.
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