Following the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine being approved for ages 12-15, the Cherokee County Health Department has received 204 doses to support the population.
County Health Director David Badger confirmed that the county had received Pfizer vaccine for the purpose of vaccinating the younger age group. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the vaccine for the younger age group on May 10. Previously, the Pfizer vaccine was approved for only ages 16 and up.
“It’s certainly not kind of blowing the doors off or anything,” Badger said. “There is some interest.
“I don’t know how quickly we’ll go through 200 doses. I think we gave around 10 (Thursday) give or take.”
He said that although he didn’t expect demand for the vaccine among the younger age group to be too intense initially, he thought it could increase closer to the start of the 2021-22 school year.
“I do think there’s interest out there, but I don’t think people are trying to rush in,” Badger said.
He said the county’s Pfizer vaccine would be targeted toward the 12-15 age group, but the health department would be open to using it in adult recipients to ensure all doses were administered.
“It’s a significant portion of our population, so I think it is important, and obviously the more people that get vaccinated, that’s less risk of getting the virus, less risk of maybe transmitting it to someone else that might not be able to get the vaccine for some reason or another,” Badger said.
Vaccine appointments can be made by calling 837-7486 or visiting the health department’s website. Badger also said that the number of tests given in the county had gone down.
“The positivity rate’s still hovering around 10-12 percent,” Badger said. The virus is still out there, so people need to be careful.”
He said about 31 percent of Cherokee County had been fully vaccinated so far, but that the percentage was considerably higher among those most likely to experience a more serious case of the virus. He added that the rate of severe illness and hospitalization from the virus was dropping statewide and nationwide.
Allyson Cole – public relations and marketing assistant for Erlanger Health Systems, which operates the hospital in Peachtree – confirmed that hospitalizations were also decreasing locally.
“Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital has seen a decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations,” she said.
She added that the hospital was continuing to require masks in its buildings, despite new guidance from U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention loosening mask recommendations for fully vaccinated
individuals.
In another positive sign, the health department reported two days without any new positive test results over the last week.
From May 18-24, there were only seven positive test results reported for COVID-19, three who had contact with previously reported cases and one that was linked to the outbreak at the Cherokee County Detention Center. All seven of those testing positive developed symptoms, one has been hospitalized and they have all been isolated.
Since the pandemic started through Monday, the health department has conducted 15,414 tests, 12,756 which were negative, Of the 2,652 positive tests, 2,607 have been released, 36 are deceased and nine are active.
According to the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services, 53 percent of state residents ages 18 and older have been at least partially vaccinated, while 44 percent have been fully vaccinated. There have been 8,111,058 total vaccine doses administered statewide so far.
Cherokee Scout Publisher & Editor David Brown contributed to this report.
Health department receives doses for ages 12-15
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