Public Health urges vaccination as COVID-19 metrics improve, expands booster shot clinic – Communications and Outreach – Communications and Outreach -…

Public Health urges vaccination as COVID-19 metrics improve, expands booster shot clinic

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC New Hanover County Public Health officials continue to urge residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as countywide metrics show signs of improvement following spikes in August and September.

Our communitys collective action in wearing masks is starting to pay off, but we still have more work to do to keep our community safe this fall and holiday season, said Public Health Director David Howard. The countys percent positivity is down to 6.1 percent, whereas just a month ago we were at nearly 14 percent. While this is great news, the reality is that new cases of COVID-19 in our community remain high. We have had more than 400 new cases and 10 deaths reported over the past week from COVID-19. The virus is still here and is a very real threat to the health of our residents. We know that wearing a mask and getting vaccinated is a powerful combination in building protection from COVID-19, so we encourage everyone to keep up these measures to stay healthy as we go into the holiday season.

The public health requirement regarding face coverings indoors has been in place since August 20, in response to high levels of community transmission, percent positivity rate, hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19. Since then, the countys percent positivity rate has dropped by more than half of Augusts peak rate of 14 percent, but other key COVID-19 metrics remain high.

Unvaccinated residents should get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect from serious illness related to COVID-19. Public Health vaccine clinics hours, locations, and more information can be found at Health.NHCgov.com.

Booster shot clinic expanded

Beginning Monday, October 11, New Hanover County Public Health will offer Pfizer (Comirnaty) COVID-19 booster shots exclusively at the Independence Mall vaccine clinic with expanded hours.

The booster shots will be offered on the following schedules:

Appointments are required for booster doses through Public Health and can be made attakemyshot.nc.gov. Individuals who need assistance with scheduling booster doses can contact the New Hanover County Coronavirus Call Center at 910-798-6800.

Individuals do not need to return to the same location where they received their initial vaccines for a booster shot. Find additional vaccine locations using the NCDHHS location finder.

Booster eligibility information can be found at Health.NHCgov.com/Coronavirus.

Updates to NCDHHS county vaccination rates

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced updates to North Carolina county-level vaccination data, resulting in changes to overall vaccination rates in several counties statewide. NCDHHS discovered a CDC report that shared vaccination rates based on county of administration, instead of the county of residence for the person vaccinated.

Changes in county-level vaccination rates have been corrected to the county of residence and now reflect a 1 percent decrease in New Hanover Countys vaccination rates for partially and fully vaccinated residents.

COVID-19 Community Data, as of October 7:

View information about Public Healths vaccine clinics, booster doses, and more at Health.NHCgov.com/Coronavirus.

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