State of North Carolina is Holding Back the Increased Flow of Vaccinations from Beaufort County | Eastern NC Now

News Release:

Public Notice from the Beaufort County Health Director

Beaufort County Residents,

    As your Health Director, I feel a need to frankly share with you the status of COVID-19 vaccine in our county.

    Originally, I asked for 1,200 doses per week to be sent to Beaufort County. I realized early on that I was not going to get allocations that large, so recently, I have been asking the State to send me at least 800 doses a week. We have approximately 12,000 people in our county eligible for Phase One and Phase Two. If 75% of those eligible wanted the vaccination, it will take me almost three months to get everyone through the process. Considering this, I continue to appeal for everyone to be patient. As a community, we still have a way to go to get to where we want to be.

    Just today, I received my notice of allocation for next week. I have been allocated 300 doses. Less than half the request. I hope you see the difficult situation the Health Department is in trying to get vaccine to you. It is the availability of vaccine, not our process that limits our ability to get vaccinations completed. I will continue to fight to get more allocated to our county.

    Monday, January 25th, we will open appointment slots at 8AM. Call in number is 252-940-6150 or go to www.bchd.net to access the scheduling link. I am going to plan 300 per week for the next four weeks. A total of 1,200 appointments will be opened. If I get additional doses, I will open more slots. Another option is to try to get into the Greenville Convention Center Large-Scale effort by visiting VidantHealth.com/Vaccinate or by logging into your MyChart account at MyChart.VidantHealth.com .

    If internet access is not available or special assistance is required, call 252-847-8000. This system is currently open for scheduling.

    As of this week, approximately 16% of our eligible population have been vaccinated (4% of our total population).

    One last thought, if you are eligible, but healthy and willing, hold off vying for the appointment slots which Beaufort County will be opening on Monday until we open more, or focus your attempts to get into the Large-Scale Vaccine site mentioned above.

    Respectfully,

    James A. Madson, RN, MPH
        Health Director,    Beaufort County Health Department