After new federal guidelines, NC could expand COVID vaccine eligibility
Update: Gov. Roy Cooper announced Jan. 14 that people 65 and older now will be eligible for the vaccine. See this story for details.
North Carolina will consider expanding the number of people eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday, after new federal guidelines were announced earlier in the day.
Federal officials said they’re now urging states to vaccinate everyone age 65 and older and any adult under 65 with a documented health issue that would make them vulnerable to COVID-19.
“It’s simply much easier to manage allocating vaccines and appointments to everyone 65 and over rather than narrower, more complex categories,” Alex Azar, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said at a press conference.
Under North Carolina’s phased system for distributing the vaccine, people age 75 and older are now eligible to get inoculated. Though some hospitals began that process last week, most counties are just now getting started, and so far demand has far outstripped supply.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, the state Secretary of Health and Human Services, says the state developed its plan based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cohen, speaking at a press conference with Cooper on Tuesday afternoon, said her office would quickly review the new federal guidelines.
“Getting this kind of advice in the middle of all of this is obviously very challenging,” she said. “But we will take a look at that and incorporate it into our work going forward.”
Cooper also expressed frustration with the timing of the new directive.
“One of the continuing problems we have had with the federal government is that they have continued to shift their advice on what the priorities of the vaccine should be,” he said.
The new guidelines call for allocating vaccine based on people’s age and health, rather than their profession. Under the state’s current system, the next groups to qualify for vaccination would be frontline health care workers and essential workers age 50 and older followed by frontline health and essential workers of any age.
Feds may change vaccine distribution to states
Azar also announced that in two weeks the federal government will change the way it allocates vaccine to the states. Rather than using a state’s population, which has been the main factor so far, it will base the allocations on the number of residents 65 and older and on what percentage of a state’s previous vaccine shipments have been given out.
States with relatively low use of vaccines would receive less than they might otherwise. That could include North Carolina. As of Monday morning, only about a quarter of the 820,825 doses shipped to the state had been administered, according to the CDC, ranking the state 41st out of 50.
Azar acknowledged that problems with data collection and reporting could account for some states appearing to lag behind others in using vaccine. They now have two weeks to fix that, he said.
“This new system gives states a strong incentive to ensure that all vaccinations are being promptly reported, which they’re currently not,” he said. “And it gives states a strong incentive to ensure doses are going to work protecting people rather than sitting on shelves or in freezers.”
The new allocation criteria would go into effect under the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden, which may decide on a different approach.
Azar also said the federal government would ship all the vaccine it currently has on hand, rather than holding some back for second doses. He said production has become reliable enough that the second doses can be shipped straight from manufacturers to the states.
Azar said his department would like to see states broaden the distribution channels for vaccinations to include pharmacies and mass inoculation events. Without citing any by name, he criticized some states for being too careful about how they distribute vaccine.
“If you try to be too micro-managed, too tailored, too focused, you let the perfect be the enemy of the good in a mass vaccine campaign like this,” he said. “We would rather have some lower-priority individuals get vaccinated along with the high-priority individuals if it makes us go fast and it avoids vaccines sitting on shelves.”
Cohen said the state is working with hospital systems and county health departments to create about 10 mass vaccination events across North Carolina. She said those efforts could vaccinate as many as 45,000 people in the next week.
Cooper opened his press conference by criticizing people who have spread misinformation and leaders who haven’t set a good example.
“Words matter,” Cooper said. “People listen to leaders and often follow their calls and imitate their actions.
“More people could be alive today but for dangerous falsehoods that have been spread about the critical importance of masks, social distancing, and other common sense safety rules.”
He and Cohen presented a new video aimed at persuading seniors to get the vaccine. The message: “You have a spot, take your shot.”
The state announced Tuesday that another 6,851 people had tested positive for the coronavirus and another 60 had died of COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 7,638. In addition, 3,940 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, including 839 in intensive care units.
Lawmakers question Cohen
The state’s coronavirus response dominated discussion at the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and NC Health Choice on Tuesday.
Several lawmakers asked Cohen to explain the slow distribution of vaccine. State Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Forsyth County Republican, said where North Carolina stands on the rollout is not acceptable, compared to other states.
“This is classic business logistics,” Lambeth said, adding that the state needs to do better.
“We want to be waiting on the vaccine [to arrive], not having vaccines on shelves,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Cooper and the nine other statewide elected officials that comprise the Council of State met remotely for the first time since starting their new terms. There were three new members: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Catherine Truitt and Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson, all Republicans.
The Council of State is majority Republican, 6-4. State law requires agreement from the council on certain executive actions. State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who had asked for Cohen to be there, was told that she would give Council of State members question-and-answer sessions in the next few days about COVID-19.
Dobson said during his first meeting as a member of the council that his focus as the new labor commissioner would be on wage enforcement and that “obviously COVID-19 in the workplace is going to suck up a lot of oxygen going forward.”
The state legislature starts its long session on Wednesday. In an interview with The News & Observer on the eve of his inauguration, Cooper said he is “optimistic” that there are several areas of common interest between his administration and the Republican-led legislature, including immediate COVID-19 issues that must be addressed and appropriating the latest federal money for it.
“I think a lot of the money that’s coming to help us with testing and tracing and vaccine supply, I think that’s good coming in to us,” he said, adding that his administration would look to see what additional help might be needed from the General Assembly.
In the General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, legislators repeatedly pressed Cohen on what improvements could be made to address the speed of North Carolina’s vaccine rollout.
“I realize you must continue to evolve this plan,” said Sen. Jim Perry, a Republican from Kinston. “You’ve got to be willing to make changes if you want to change the outcome.”
Cohen was resistant to making sweeping changes, but said her department continues to improve kinks in the system.
“If we want to have a conversation about what is the best way for us to set up a public health infrastructure to respond to crisis going forward, I think that’s the right conversation to have,” Cohen said. “But that’s not a conversation you can have in the midst of a crisis. You use the system you have, which is what we’re trying to do, and make the best decisions we can, and we’ll continue to adjust as we go.”
Lucille Sherman contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 4:46 PM with the headline "After new federal guidelines, NC could expand COVID vaccine eligibility."
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