Today, Governor Roy Cooper visited Gates County to see more North Carolinians receive their vaccine at the county health clinic run by Albemarle Regional Health Services, an eight-county regional public health agency in northeastern North Carolina.
“Making sure people in rural North Carolina have access to this vaccine is critical to getting us to the other side of this pandemic,” Governor Cooper said. “I’m so proud of our health care workers and volunteers who keep stepping up to provide these life saving shots.”
Albemarle Regional Health Services partnered with several community organizations including Disability Rights NC to organize today’s Project ACCESS (All Communities County Equitably for Safety & Support) vaccine clinic to make the clinic as accessible as possible. The Gates County Inter-Regional Transportation System provided free rides to people in the community, and the clinic provided its own giveaway contest for people getting vaccinated today. Prizes included a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop and multiple gift cards.
“Albemarle Regional Health Services was honored to host Governor Cooper today at our shot clinic in Gates County. He continues to offer his full support of our vaccine efforts in Northeast North Carolina,” Albemarle Regional Health Services Director Battle Betts. “We remain committed to reaching all of the people we serve with a safe and effective vaccine. Our best defense against this virus is to get vaccinated. This is even more important as we approach the upcoming return to school and the traditional cold and flu season. Please protect those that you love and get vaccinated today.”
Governor Cooper is urging people to get their vaccine as the Delta variant of the virus continues to spread and COVID-19 cases in North Carolina reach their highest levels in two months. More than 99 percent of the state’s cases since May have appeared in people who are unvaccinated.
North Carolinians who get their first dose are automatically entered into the Your Shot at a Million Summer Cash and College Tuition drawings. NCDHHS will announce the second two winners of the Summer Cash Drawing and Summer Cash 4 College Drawing later this afternoon. In total, four North Carolinians will win a $1 million prize and four people ages 12-17 will win a $125,000 college education scholarship.
To date, North Carolina has administered more than 9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 53 percent of the adult population fully vaccinated. Fifty-six percent of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 82 percent of people 65 and over.
Learn more about the state’s vaccine distribution at myspot.nc.gov (English) or Vacunate.nc.gov (Spanish). Details on the Your Shot at $1 Million Summer Cash Drawing can be found at covid19.ncdhhs.gov/summervaxcash. Use NCDHHS’ online tool Find a Vaccine Location to find a nearby vaccine site. Call the state’s COVID-19 vaccine hotline at 888-675-4567.
Video footage of this event is available for media use here and here.
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