Thanks to recent increases in allotment, Dare County Health and Human Services is now offering COVID-19 vaccines to anyone 16 or older.
Anyone who wishes to be vaccinated may now go to the agency’s website at www.darenc.com/covidvaccine to complete the vaccination request form. Staff will then call you to schedule an appointment, as appointments are available. Health officials anticipate it could take one to two weeks to get an appointment from the time you register online.
Over the past 10 weeks, the health department was provided 10,128 initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and has fully vaccinated 8,340 individuals. Over the next two weeks, health officials will administer an additional 1,970 first doses and 600 second doses.
More from Dare DHHS Director Sheila Davies:
“We are pleased to share that we will be receiving a special allotment of Pfizer vaccine which will enable us to vaccinate individuals aged 16 and over,” the health department said in its Tuesday COVID-19 update. “The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine currently authorized for ages 16 and over.”
Both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are for ages 18 and over. Anyone who is under the age of 18 will need a parent or guardian to accompany you to the vaccine clinic.
If you have registered on our website for a vaccine and no longer need your appointment, please email the health department at covid19@darenc.com to be removed from the waitlist. Additionally, please only register one time through the website. If you are unsure if your registration was successfully submitted, call the health department at 252-475-5008 or send an email at covid19@darenc.com to check.
This past weekend marked the one year anniversary since Dare health officials started providing COVID-19 reports and updates in Dare County.
“While this past year has had its share of challenges, frustrations, disappointments, and loss, we are now in a position of hope and optimism that we will get on the other side of this pandemic sooner, rather than later, as more and more people are getting vaccinated and we are seeing lower numbers of new cases,” the agency said.
The overall number of new COVID-19 cases in Dare County remains dramatically lower than the early part of this year, however, there was a slight increase this past week, with 38 new cases. Additionally, the percent of positive tests to total tests for this past week also increased from 7.5% to 8.13%.
“Please help us keep the spread of the virus under control by following the 3 Ws: wear a face covering when in public, wait 6 ft apart and wash your hands frequently or use hand sanitizer,” the agency said.
Since March 8, there have been 42 new cases, including:
33 (79%) who are symptomatic
34 (80%) who acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual or individuals who were positive for COVID-19.
The total COVID-19 positive case count in Dare County is 2,853 of which there are 21 active cases among residents of Dare County.
Key Metrics
Each week health officials review the four key metrics associated with disease investigation and surveillance, including number of tests, confirmed cases, positive tests as a percent of total tests and COVID-like illness surveillance.
Over the past week there were 467 COVID-19 diagnostic tests reported in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March of last year to 34,478. There were 38 positive cases between March 8 and March 14.
The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in March 2020 remained the same as last week at 8.26%. The percent of positive tests to total tests for the past week increased slightly to 8.13%. Syndromic surveillance of individuals presenting with COVID like symptoms to the emergency department and urgent care centers, showed low levels of activity.
