BREAKING: Covid vaccine for ages 75+ available Wednesday
The Mecklenburg County Health Department will start taking online appointments starting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8 a.m., county says; quantities limited
Good afternoon! Today is Monday, January 4, 2021, and we’re coming to you with HOT BREAKING NEWS.
(Photo by Kristine Wook/Unsplash)
by Tony Mecia
The Mecklenburg County Health Department plans to offer Covid vaccines to county residents aged 75+ starting on Wednesday, the county said this afternoon.
The county says it is opening a “limited number of appointments” for the vaccine, which will be available for booking starting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8 a.m.
In a news release, the county said:
Eligible Phase 1b Group 1 members may make a first dose appointment online at: mecknc.gov/COVID-19 or https://booknow.appointment-plus.com/83g1hcpv/. Please read the appointment instructions carefully.
The first web address gives information about vaccines but has no obvious place to book an appointment. The second web address seems to require registering online before logging in.
The county said residents can also make phone appointments by calling 980-314-9400 and selecting Option 3 beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. It added: “If you leave a message, we will attempt to return your call within 24-48 business hours.”
The vaccines will be administered beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Bojangles Coliseum, 2700 East Independence Blvd. It will be the Pfizer-BioNTech version of the vaccine, the county said.
The shift to vaccinate residents aged 75+ comes after initial doses of the vaccines went to front-line medical workers and staff and residents of long-term care facilities. After residents aged 75 and up, the next people to be eligible for receiving the vaccine are:
Health care and frontline essential workers who are 50 years of age or older.
Frontline workers of any age and health care workers of any age, regardless of whether they work directly with Covid-19 patients.
The county is following state guidelines on vaccine distribution, which were developed following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are about 49,000 Mecklenburg County residents aged 75 and up, or 4.4% of the population, according to census data — although some of those will have already been vaccinated in nursing homes.
Although people under age 40 account for most of the confirmed Covid cases, elderly residents account for the vast majority of Covid deaths. Of the 552 Covid patients in Mecklenburg County who have died, 86% were age 60 or older, according to the most recent county data.
Read the full news release here.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire; Reporting intern: David Griffith