Cooper sees ‘newfound hope’ for NC as he details COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday the state is preparing to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine when it’s approved and that it will be free for everyone, regardless of health insurance.
Cooper said he has “newfound hope” because of Pfizer and Moderna’s progress in developing vaccines. Once approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, they can be distributed across the state’s hospitals and health care providers with a priority of getting them to frontline health-care workers.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services secretary, said she hopes vaccinations can start as early as January, but the distribution is contingent on FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization of the vaccines. Whenever one is approved, there will be “very limited” supplies to distribute to states, Cohen said.
At a Tuesday press conference, Cooper and Cohen discussed in detail North Carolina’s vaccine distribution plan. The first shipment will be about 85,000 doses, Cohen said. Those will go entirely to health-care workers in high risk settings of treating COVID-19 patients or cleaning up around them, which includes clinical workers and janitorial staff. Residents and staff at long-term care facilities and those at risk for severe illness also will be prioritized.
“We’ve been hard at work preparing for this moment,” Cohen said.
When the second shipment will comes, Cohen hopes that vaccines will be available to people with two or more chronic conditions, possibly some time in January. That vaccine may or may not be Pfizer’s, depending on what other vaccines are developed and approved by the FDA, Cooper and Cohen said.
Cooper noted, though, that people need to get two vaccines of the same type 21 days apart. Distribution will be “complicated,” he said.
The state submitted its interim vaccination plan Oct. 16 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where it outlined the different phases of distribution, how it would be stored, training and other logistical details, The News & Observer reported. But that was before Pfizer and Moderna reported positive vaccine results.
Also Tuesday, a CDC advisory committee was scheduled to meet to provide guidance on how states should prioritize who gets the vaccine first, The Washington Post reported.
North Carolina’s plan has four phases of distribution. Other phases include educators and students, migrant workers in congregate care living, inmates and people with one chronic condition with the general population in Phase 4.
Cohen noted the state has seen preliminary data about vaccine trials and said the effective rates have exceeded expectations. She said she is encouraged by positive feedback from scientists she respects.
But Cooper said there are concerns about ensuring people have confidence and trust in getting the vaccine.
“We have some concerns about people not wanting to be vaccinated,” Cooper said. “In order for this to work, we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible.”
From a logistical standpoint, a key concern is keeping vaccines adequately refrigerated, Cooper said, noting that a number of North Carolina hospitals already have the “ultra cold” storage needed.
“When it’s my turn to get this vaccine,” he said, “I’ll be ready to roll up my sleeves.”
Record hospitalizations
The governor’s update came the same day that North Carolina hit a record-high number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients for the fourth day in a row, passing 2,000 for the first time.
DHHS also reported that positive test results now exceed 10%, more than twice North Carolina’s 5% goal.
Thanksgiving was last week — a holiday that Cooper and Cohen urged people to celebrate differently.
Cooper and other national public health officials warned then of danger of COVID-19 spikes if North Carolinians succumbed to COVID-19 fatigue instead of continuing to follow rules of social distancing, hand washing, small gatherings of 10 or fewer and wearing masks around anyone outside your immediate household.
Before the holiday, health officials urged people to get tested for COVID-19. While there was a surge in testing then, the number of people getting tested has since decreased. Meanwhile, the percentage of positive tests has increased, The News & Observer reported.
On Nov. 24, Cooper’s updated executive order went into effect that places more restrictions on wearing masks. He also extended North Carolina’s Phase 3 executive order to Dec. 11, one week after it was set to expire.
Under the new rules, masks must be worn inside any public setting with non-household members, even when 6 feet apart. They must be worn in public outdoor settings if social distancing isn’t possible.
Cooper and Cohen said people are strongly encouraged to wear them indoors in private settings, too, with non-household members, though it isn’t spelled out in the executive order.
The new rules were announced the same day Cooper revealed North Carolina has 20 counties considered “red” under the state’s new coronavirus alert system, which had doubled in a week. Counties can also be ranked orange or yellow.
Tuesday, North Carolina reported 367,395 cases, an increase of 2,883 new cases.
Cooper said Tuesday that “with hope so close on the horizon” for a vaccine, he urged people not to give up.
“Wear a mask,” he said, to show you care for others.
Cohen added that a vaccine is not a “quick fix.”
Cooper meets with Council of State
Earlier Tuesday, the governor presided over the first Council of State meeting since the Nov. 3 election. He warned other statewide officials about the coming winter.
“We have a tough couple of months ahead of us,” Cooper said. “I think it’s going to be important for us as leaders to encourage personal responsibility and wearing masks.”
He said as hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continue to rise, he wants to make sure there are enough beds available both for coronavirus patients and other patients, too.
Treasurer Dale Folwell, who has repeatedly asked for Council of State meetings to return to being held in person, asked again Tuesday for a plan to meet in-person again. Folwell, who contracted COVID-19 this spring, said he wants more discussion on the state’s COVID-19 response.
Cooper said they would continue to meet remotely “until we get on the other side of this pandemic.”
Folwell, a Republican, was reelected this fall along with Republican Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, Democratic Auditor Beth Wood, Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.
Leaving the council are Superintendent Mark Johnson, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Forest, who lost his bid for governor to Cooper, did not attend the meeting.
Berry and Johnson, both Republicans being replaced by newly elected Republicans Josh Dobson and Catherine Truitt, respectively, said their farewells at the meeting.
Cooper thanked them both, noting that he and Berry “go way back” to their days serving in the General Assembly.
Cooper thanked Johnson “particularly in the early days of Covid when we had to make such tough decisions for our schools and our children.”
North Carolina elementary schools are allowed to be open under Plan A full-time in person, while middle and high schools have stricter rules around social distancing. All students and staff must wear masks in school buildings. Local education boards have the authority to decide which plan to use to open schools.
The Wake County Public Schools System, the state’s largest, reopened elementary schools in October and middle schools on a three-week rotation in November. All students also have the option of enrolling in Virtual Academy, which is online only.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Cooper sees ‘newfound hope’ for NC as he details COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan."