A Southern Shores homeowner informed us this morning that she and her husband registered today for the last vaccination appointments scheduled tomorrow at the Thomas A Baum Senior Center in Kill Devil Hills.
They just got lucky, placing two 8:30 a.m. calls to the Dare County COVID-19 Call Center, and getting through to a real person on the second call. Their appointment is for 3:45 p.m. tomorrow.
Subsequent to this Southern Shores homeowner’s success, another homeowner in our town called the Call Center and also got through to a real person, who informed her that the Call Center is no longer making vaccination appointments by telephone, only through online registration.
This homeowner reports that the Call Center worker advised her that people who register online will be contacted according to the time that they registered, essentially on a first-come/first-serve basis.
As we reported earlier today, the URL link for vaccination registration is www.darenc.com/register4vaccine.
Only people who are age 75 or older–and, therefore, in Group One of Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout–may register now. People who are in Phase 1B, but in a lower-ranked group, are not eligible for vaccination yet. (See The Beacon, 1/2/21, for the groups in all four prioritization phases of North Carolina’s vaccine rollout.)
After you submit your registration form, you should see a notation at the top of the page informing you that your submission has been successful.
The Beacon has decided not to identify either of these homeowners out of concern for their privacy. The first homeowner, who will be vaccinated tomorrow with her husband, has agreed to be interviewed by The Beacon about the process. Please check back tomorrow to read about their experience.
THE NUMBER OF COVID-19-RELATED HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS ACROSS THE STATE CONTINUE TO RISE. The N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reported today 3,781 hospitalizations, a new record, and a total of 6,996 deaths.
In the past three days, the number of new COVID-19 cases statewide has ranged from 5,187 to 6,487. The positivity rate was above 16 percent yesterday and is again today.
The issue of concern with the number of hospitalizations, Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the NCDHHS, has explained, is not the number of hospital beds available, but the number of physicians and nurses available to treat COVID-19 patients. The worry is a shortage of medical staff, not beds.
The Beacon, 1/5/21
The Southern Shores Beacon 