Today, Governor Roy Cooper visited Mount Zion Baptist Church in Greensboro to see people getting vaccinated and learn more about how Guilford County is targeting underserved communities in its vaccine distribution. The Mt. Zion site has focused on distributing the vaccine to communities of color, including through reaching out to other churches and community support groups.
“Distributing vaccine quickly and fairly remains our top priority in North Carolina, and the state is taking steps to make sure underserved communities have access to the vaccine,” Governor Cooper said. “We know that communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by this devastating pandemic, and the state is making a conscious effort to track the data and seek fairness in vaccine distribution.”
Governor Cooper has made equity a priority in the state's vaccine distribution. The state has received national recognition for sharing data about race and ethnicity both in vaccinations and COVID-19 cases down to the county level. State health officials continue to ramp up efforts to serve communities of color, including targeting outreach and directing a portion of weekly vaccines to events for underserved communities.
North Carolina has administered more than 1.5 million total doses as of February 11, 2021.
“We continue to focus on ensuring that the vaccine is not only distributed quickly and efficiently, but equitably as well,” said Dr. Iulia Vann, Health Director of the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services. “We know that there is a history of long-standing, racial inequity in the medical field, and we continue to work towards decreasing vaccine hesitancy in black and brown communities. Through targeted outreach and partnerships with community organizations, we are working to get messages out around the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Yesterday, Governor Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. laid out a timeline for Group 3 frontline workers becoming eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, beginning with anyone working in child care or in PreK – 12 schools on February 24. North Carolina is currently vaccinating people in Groups 1 and 2, which include health care workers, long-term care staff and residents, and people 65 and older. In the coming weeks, providers will continue to vaccinate these groups. More than 40 percent of North Carolina’s residents 65 and older have been vaccinated. Under the timeline outlined today, the state plans to begin vaccinating additional frontline workers on March 10th.
NCDHHS has released Find a Vaccine Location to help North Carolinians find nearby vaccine providers and expanded the hours of the COVID-19 vaccine help center to answer North Carolinians’ vaccine questions at 888-675-4567. Learn more about the state’s vaccine distribution at YourSpotYourShot.nc.gov.
To allow for proper distancing and safety protocols, coverage of this event was pooled in coordination with the North Carolina Press Association.
Video footage of this event will be available for media use here and here. Raw audio footage is available here.
Still photos will be available here, credit to Woody Marshall of the News & Record.
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