First person in N.C. receives COVID-19 vaccine: ‘I couldn’t be more excited’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/AP) - The first person in North Carolina was vaccinated for COVID-19 Monday: Atrium Health’s Medical Director of Infection Prevention Dr. Katie Passaretti.

“I couldn’t be more excited. I feel perfectly fine,” Pasaretti said, calling it a “moment of hope” and a “potential for change of the course that we’re on.”

Atrium announced Passaretti’s vaccination moments after tweeting that the first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Atrium Health in Charlotte.

“Dr. Passaretti as an infectious disease doctor is one of those physicians who is on the front lines taking care of those patients,” said Chief Medical Officer of the Metro Division at Atrium Health—Doctor Gary Little.

Little says its front line health care workers are next on the list to get doses of its first shipment of the vaccine.

“It’s the people who you would think should be first in line. It’s our people who work in our nursing homes... our people in our emergency rooms,” Little said.

Just as getting any other vaccine, Dr. Little says those who receive their first dose could experience mild side effects in the days to come.

“The vaccine has arrived at Atrium Health. We are excited to be among the 1st in the nation to receive the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine,” Atrium Health tweeted. “This is an exciting day as we enter a very hopeful phase in defeating this virus. Stay tuned for updates here.”

Around 10 a.m. Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted that the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine were in North Carolina.

“The first doses of COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in North Carolina. It’s a limited supply for now, but this is a remarkable achievement for science and health. We all need to keep wearing a mask and acting responsibly while we get as many people vaccinated as fast as we can,” Cooper tweeted.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles encouraged everyone to get the vaccine when it’s available, saying she would be doing the same.

“As a leader, and a person of color, I believe it’s important to declare my commitment to get the vaccine because I am confident that it is safe and will be effective,” said Lyles. “And while I will get my vaccine after healthcare workers, first responders and our community’s most vulnerable citizens, I am making my plans known today in an effort to help others have the same confidence in the science.”

The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine began arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.

Trucks rolled out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer’s vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states, said Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program.

Click here to view the CDC’s VaxView, which provides vaccination coverage data for all ages.

An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.

North Carolina health leaders have released details of the COVID-19 vaccine allocation plan for the first week of distribution. All sites receiving Week 1 allocations are hospitals.

Officials say the 11 facilities receiving advance/early shipments are but a portion of the sites included in the week-1 distribution. The 11 facilities have sufficient ultra-cold-storage space to get and hold the vaccines.

Over the weekend, the CDC director gave the greenlight on the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. This was the final step needed before healthcare workers could administer the vaccine.

The first wave of shipments is going to health care workers and nursing home residents. Officials say vaccines should be available to everyone by the middle of next year.

Officials say 42 hospitals in North Carolina were chosen based on bed capacity, health care workers and county population.

The federal government will determine how much vaccine will go to each state based on population.

North Carolina expects to receive 85,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in this first shipment. These will be shipped in batches of at least 975 doses.

So each location must be able to store this amount in ultra-cold storage or keep the shipping container refilled with dry ice for up to 30 days or use the doses within 10 to 15 days without refilling dry ice.

Officials say they do not yet know Week 2 allocations, so they do not have a list of hospitals that will receive Week 2 doses nor how many.

The list of hospitals is below:

Officials provided notes about the allocation:

• This is only week 1. Vaccine is expected to arrive in North Carolina during the week of Dec. 14.
• NC is only allocated 85,800 doses of Pfizer vaccine in Week 1 and they must be shipped in units of 975. Therefore, the state had 88 units.
• The allocation was based on acute + ICU beds and then a correction factor of both population and number of healthcare workers in the county to account for places with low hospital beds as compared to overall population.
• Of the 53 initial sites, 11 are the early ship sites. No site will be able to administer vaccine until after final authorization by both FDA and ACIP. After final ACIP authorization, likely within 24-48 hours, the remaining 42 week-one site allocations will ship from the manufacturer.
• This is just the first week’s allocation. Because of the minimum ship amounts of the Pfizer Vaccine, officials say they prioritized hospitals where the number of healthcare workers were greater. The Moderna vaccine will be distributed in minimum ship amounts of 100 units, allowing officials to further distribute to additional hospitals and local health departments. The goal has been to ensure vaccine is administered rapidly to those at risk of contracting COVID-19 or at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and minimize the risk of excess supply at any particular provider.
• Week 2 allocations will allow officials to get vaccine to more locations and every county in NC.
• In week 2, officials say they are expecting to receive both Pfizer and Moderna vaccine.

More information about the NC COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, including the NCDHHS Interim Update on COVID-19 Vaccine (last updated Dec. 7) and FAQs can be found at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/vaccines.

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