Limited COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Leads to Changes for Richmond County Clinics

Rockingham, N.C. -- FirstHealth of the Carolinas and the Richmond County Health Department will reduce the number of vaccination appointments for the week beginning January 25, 2021, due to a far smaller-than-expected shipment of vaccine.

In the past two weeks as the state has opened eligibility to those 65 and older, Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond and the health department have administered 2,100 first doses of the vaccine.

MRH-Richmond and Richmond County requested 1,200 doses from the state based on anticipated vaccination rates from January 26 through February 1, however, the state is only sending 400 doses – 800 less than anticipated and 650 less than the weekly average doses given, according to John Jackson, President of FirstHealth’s Southern Region and Administrator of Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond.

“Our ability to offer vaccination clinics has always been dependent on the number of vaccine doses we receive and moving into next week we do not have enough supply to vaccinate everyone we planned,” he said.

Those with appointments will receive their first dose of the Moderna vaccine, and those who have left a message through the registration line will be called back in order of the time the message was left, and will not be within the four business days, Jackson said. “We will schedule additional appointments as the state allocates vaccine to our county,” he said.

The vaccine registration line has been suspended. It will be reopened once all who have left messages are called and scheduled for appointments.

“We want everyone in Richmond County to know that we are working tirelessly to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible, but vaccine supply remains our biggest challenge,” Jackson said.

“If the state expands our supply, we are prepared and ready to address the vaccination needs of the county. We thank community members for their patience during this challenging time.”