‘A sense of hope.’ Over 1,000 patients got COVID shots at Charlotte hospitals this week
Days after opening up coronavirus vaccinations to patients in Charlotte age 75 and up, Novant Health has already vaccinated about 600 people in the Charlotte area in that group, hospital officials said Friday.
And Charlotte’s largest hospital system, Atrium Health, has vaccinated nearly 460 people included in the first group of Phase 1b for the vaccine roll-out.
“To see the excitement and relief on the faces of patients getting their vaccine has been incredibly encouraging to our teams,” Novant infectious disease expert Dr. David Priest told reporters. “I had the same feeling when I got my first dose of vaccine three weeks ago. You have this sense of relief; you have a sense of hope.”
In the last week, Novant has gotten thousands of calls from people scheduling their vaccine or asking for information about the vaccine. And messages to Novant providers through the system’s online service, MyChart have increased by 65%, Nissen said.
Novant Health contacted eligible patients through MyChart, where they can sign up for an appointment.
Atrium Health has been contacting eligible patients contacting through its online system. MyAtriumHealth.
Vaccine appointments are currently limited by supply. Both hospital systems, along with Mecklenburg County Public Health, get an allocation of vaccines shipped weekly from the state.
Novant intends to use up its supply of vaccines by the end of the day Friday, Nissen said.
Right now, Novant is offering vaccines at two centralized locations, one in the Charlotte area and one in Winston-Salem. But the hospital system is scouting out larger venues where providers could vaccinate more than 1,000 patients a day at each site, Nissen said.
Atrium plans to expand vaccinations to counties outside of Mecklenburg soon, according to the hospital system.
Even people who get the COVID-19 vaccine should continue social distancing and following COVID-19 restrictions, Priest said.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines require two injections, spaced weeks apart.
“Your maximum protection is not going to come until about two weeks after your second dose,” Priest said. “So we have heard of people in the community getting COVID in between the first and second doses.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 11:30 AM.
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