Press release from Buncombe County:
On Tuesday, March 2, Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders provided a COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine update to the Board of Commissioners. As of March 2:
– There have been 15,585 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County since the pandemic’s start.
– There have been 293 COVID-19-related deaths in our community.
– The number of new cases per 100,000 per week has plateaued and is now 178 per 100,000 per week. New cases mirror pre-surge levels, but are not as low as numbers from last summer.
– The percent positivity is stable at 3.4 percent.
– Hospitalizations in the region have continued to decline but do show some stabilization in recent days.
Vaccine Rollout
Since December 22, Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) has been vaccinating members of our community with help and support from Buncombe County Emergency Services and other partners. As of yesterday, BCHHS had administered 32,133 total vaccinations. BCHHS is currently vaccinating individuals in Groups 1 and 2 – healthcare workers and adults 65 and older, as well as Group 3 school personnel. Governor Cooper announced today that the remaining Group 3 Additional Frontline Essential Workers will be eligible beginning March 3. The waitlist in Buncombe County will not open fully to Group 3 on March 3 due to upgrades and surge testing that was planned previously based on the original eligibility date of March 10. BCHHS will notify the public once it determines the date for opening the waitlist to Group 3. To get more information on vaccine distribution for Group 3 and beyond, text “BCAlert” to 99411.
Last Saturday, BCHHS vaccinated approximately 500 school staff. More than 4,100 school personnel signed up to receive vaccinations, and it will take approximately four weeks to vaccinate those who expressed initial interest. Any school personnel not included in the initial list will join the Group 3 general waitlist.
MAHEC is partnering with the Buncombe Partnership for Children to identify and assist in vaccinating childcare facility staff eligible for vaccine.
Equitable Distribution
As a vaccine provider, equitable distribution has been a guiding principle. Through its vaccine operations, BCHHS has vaccinated more than 500 of the estimated 2,260 individuals who are African American and 65 years or older. In addition, approximately 330 Latinx individuals have received the vaccine, but with roughly 23,317 Latinx individuals qualifying in the current phase, BCHHS is working with community partners to identify additional opportunities for access. Approximately 94 percent of vaccines are going to Buncombe County residents.
NC DHHS has county-level vaccination data available on a dashboard available here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations
Vaccine Allotment
Our current baseline allocation is 2,340 – two trays of Pfizer. In addition to the baseline, BCHHS also received a 300-dose equity bump for the this three-week allocation period. The intent of these doses is to provide access in addition to baseline for historically marginalized populations. Last week, BCHHS partnered with Tried Stone Missionary Baptist Church, Western Carolina University and others to administer more than 280 doses at the church. This week, BCHHS is partnering with Haywood Street to vaccinate approximately 150 homeless individuals as well as other recipients of services who are eligible in current groups.
In addition to the baseline allotment, BCHHS continues to accept transfers from local partners. Last week, BCHHS accepted 300 doses from our hospital partner and this week BCHHS is working to accept a transfer of approximately 500 doses from MAHEC partners. All transferred doses are applied to our waitlist.
If eligible for one of the vaccine groups, individuals can call 828-250-5000 or visit buncombeready.org to get on the waitlist. Buncombe County staff is currently scheduling in the 17,000 range of the waitlist. Approximately 40,000 individuals remain on the wait list, and they are contacted in the order which they signed up. If individuals need to remove their name from the waitlist, please emailready@buncombecounty.org or call us at 828-419-0095 or 828-250-5000. To view more vaccine providers, visit the Find Your Spot to Take Your Shot website.
Testing
Visit the Find my Testing Place website or visit starmed.care to register for drive-through COVID-19 testing. Individuals who are showing symptoms or believe they have had close contact to COVID-19 should get tested.
Please continue to practice the 3Ws to stop transmission of COVID-19, even if you’ve received a vaccine. It will take the vaccine and these important preventative measures to get our families back to a sense of normalcy. For more information about COVID-19, vaccine waitlists and COVID testing, go to www.buncombeready.org.
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