Brunswick County providers receive numbers for minimum COVID-19 vaccine allocations over the next three weeks

BOLIVIA, N.C. (WWAY) — Brunswick County Health Services, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center and Dosher Memorial Hospital have announced that they have received information from the NCDHHS that they should receive a minimum (baseline) allocation of 1,275 doses per week for the next three weeks.

They also say that the NCDHHS will also send the county an additional 300 doses for equity allotments during the first week of February for a total of 1,575 doses.

Based on these numbers and available resources, no appointments at the Brunswick County mass vaccination clinic are anticipated to be affected next week (Feb. 1–5). This includes any appointments rescheduled to this week because of the early closure of the clinic this past Wednesday due to inclement weather.

However, if the baseline allocations and/or equity allotments are not increased moving forward, appointments scheduled in the second and third weeks of February could be rescheduled due to inadequate vaccine supplies.

It is estimated that up to 1,200 appointments could be rescheduled from both the second and third weeks’ schedules should the three providers only receive the combined 1,275 weekly baseline allotment those weeks.

“We are disappointed by the numbers and are heartbroken to think that we might have to call hundreds of residents—most of whom are elderly—to tell them they can’t get their vaccine now after doing everything right,” Brunswick County Chairman Randy Thompson said. “The commissioners and local mayors continue to communicate with our state representatives on this grave issue. We call on our state officials to help us adequately vaccinate our eligible residents, which includes nearly 50,000 seniors.”

This extra 300 doses the county will receive in the first week are considered equity allotments that the state is issuing some providers to help increase vaccine access to counties with historically marginalized populations and higher populations aged 65 and older. However, it is not guaranteed that Brunswick County’s vaccine providers will receive equity allotments each week.

Of Brunswick County’s nearly 143,000 residents, more than 15,000 residents are 75 and older and another 31,000 fall in the 65 to 74 year age range, about a third of the total population.

Individuals currently eligible for vaccinations are those who fall under Group 1 (health care workers) or Group 2 (anyone 65 or older regardless of health status or living situation).

In the event an appointment needs to be rescheduled, someone from Novant Health, Dosher Memorial Hospital, or Brunswick County Health Services will call to inform of the postponement and help schedule a new appointment.

Brunswick County is currently in the Critical/Red Tier on the North Carolina COVID-19 County Alert System, the highest tier possible. Of the state’s 100 counties, 99 are considered to have substantial or critical spread.

The data below is from the NCDHHS dashboard:

As of Jan. 27, 11,372 first doses and 1,373 second doses have been administered in Brunswick County.

As of Jan. 29, 6,434 county residents have received a positive test result for COVID-19. To date, 93 residents have died.  

As of Jan. 29, about 10.8% of tests conducted in Brunswick County are yielding positive results.