RALEIGH — Wake County won't begin vaccinating people in phase 1b for at least a week.
The county has...
RALEIGH — Wake County said it won't move on to Phase 1b of the vaccination plan — which includes vaccinating people aged 75 and older — for at least another week, as other counties announce plans to do so imminently.
The county has been vaccinating people in Phase 1a since it received its first doses Dec. 23. Phase 1a includes health care workers who work with COVID-19 patients, those working on the vaccine rollout, first responders and people who live or work in long-term care facilities.
Phase 1b consists of three groups. Group 1 will be people 75 and older, Group 2 will be front-line health care workers who are 50 and older, and finally all remaining front-line and health care workers will make up Group 3.
While some counties, including Franklin, moved to begin vaccinating people in Group 1 this week, Wake County is still focusing on people in Phase 1a, according to Stacy Beard, a spokesperson.
Wake is the largest county in the state and is home to several hospitals and other health care facilities, which means a lot of people are in Phase 1a, Beard said. Around 3,800 health care workers who registered still haven't received their first dose of the vaccine yet.
The county is also beginning to administer the second dose to some people next week, she added.
The county is also wants to make sure it is well prepared to register and administer the vaccine to people in Phase 1b, Beard said. It has already begun work on the plan, which should be announced next week.
For more information, visit http://covid19.wakegov.com/vaccine.
Franklin County Health Department began administering the vaccine to people in Group 1 of Phase 1b on Thursday at its office. People in Phase 1a are also receiving the vaccine.
The Franklin health department has both the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines, it said in an email. People do not get to choose which vaccine they receive.
The department is asking for eligible people to register for vaccinations. Officials prefer interested people email CovidVAX@franklincountync.us and provide their legal name, birthdate and working email address. The Vaccine Management System will send an email out to help the individual complete their registration online.
People who don't have email can call 919-729-0654 or 919-496-2533 Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The health department is only vaccinating people who have completed all the steps. They are not taking any walk ups or drive ups, officials said in an email.
For more information visit http://franklincountync.us/alerts/corona-virus-covid-19-joint-information-center.
Statewide, more than 109,000 people have received their first dose of the vaccine by Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services dashboard. More than 11,000 were in Wake County while more than 400 call Franklin County home.
About 460 people have taken both doses statewide. Around 90 were in Wake County while three were in Franklin County.
Phases of vaccine administration in North Carolina
Phase 1a
Health care workers fighting COVID-19 and long-term care staff and residents.
Phase 1b
Group 1 — Adults 75 and older.
Group 2 — Health care workers and front-line essential workers 50 and older.
Group 3 — Health care workers and front-line essential workers of any age.
Phase 2
Group 1 — Adults aged 65-74.
Group 2 — Anyone 16-64 years old with high-risk medical conditions.
Group 3 — Essential workers.
Phase 3
College and university students and K-12 students age 16 and over. Younger children will only be vaccinated when the vaccine is approved for them.
Phase 4
Everyone who wants a vaccine.
