Dare County Health and Human Services is registering children 12 to 15 years old for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine after yesterday’s FDA emergency-use authorization and ahead of CDC advisory committee approval.
The CDC committee meets tomorrow, Wednesday, May 12, to discuss and vote on a recommendation for the use of the vaccine for those 12 years and older.
“If this recommendation is provided then the state will authorize vaccine providers in N.C. to provide the Pfizer vaccine to anyone 12 and older,” Dare health officials said in a Tuesday update.
Those interested in registering your child aged 12 or older for the Pfizer vaccine should visit www.darenc.com/covid19. Health officials will then call and schedule an appointment once full authorizations are in place and details about vaccine dates/times and locations are finalized. Parental permission is required and a legal guardian must accompany any minor youth to the vaccine appointment.
First or second dose vaccine appointments can be scheduled with the department onlineor by calling the COVID call center at 252-475-5008. You may also contact one of the many area pharmacies which are providing COVID vaccinations including: Walgreens, Sunshine Family Pharmacy, Island Pharmacy, Bear Drugs and Beach Pharmacy.
Over the past 4 1/2 months Dare County has provided 15,915 initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and has fully vaccinated 16,253 individuals.
“In addition to preventing serious illness and death, getting your COVID-19 vaccine prevents you from being quarantined if you are exposed to a person who tests positive for COVID, as long as you remain symptom free,” the health department said. “While there have been five breakthrough cases of COVID-19 reported in Dare County, there have been no reports of serious illness or death of anyone in Dare who has been fully vaccinated. Now is a great time to get your vaccine so you can be fully vaccinated before the busy summer season is upon us.”
Last week there were 31 new positive COVID-19 cases reported in Dare County, bringing the positive case count for Dare County to 3,185. There are currently 17 active cases among residents of Dare County.
Since last Tuesday, there have been 33 new COVID-19 cases. Of those, 26 (79%) are symptomatic
and 28 (85%) acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual or individuals who were positive for COVID-19.
“The virus continues to be spread by direct contact between family members, co-workers and close friends. We know we can control the spread of the virus by practicing the 3Ws. Please wear a face covering, wait 6 ft apart from others and wash your hands frequently or use hand sanitizer. In addition to the 3Ws, the most effective tool in controlling the spread of this virus is to get your COVID vaccine,” health officials said.
More from Dare Health and Human Services:
Key Metrics
Each week we review the 4 key metrics associated with disease investigation and surveillance. The metrics are:
Number of Tests
Confirmed Cases
Positive Tests as a Percent of Total Tests
COVID Like Illness Surveillance
This past week there were 440 COVID-19 diagnostic tests reported in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March of last year to 38,882. There were 31 positive cases between May 3 and May 9. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in March 2020 decreased slightly to 8.2%. The percent of positive tests to total tests for the past week decreased to 7.05%. Syndromic surveillance of individuals presenting with COVID like symptoms to the emergency department and urgent care centers continues to show low levels of activity. These graphs can be found on the Dare County website at www.darenc.com/covid19.
Communications and Information Sharing
Dare County DHHS has an established schedule of communication to share information regarding COVID-19. Every Tuesday, a written update and a video update which includes an overview of the previous week’s COVID-19 key metrics is issued. Additional updates will be released as needed. All released videos and written updates can be found on our website, DHHS facebook page, Dare County Twitter page, and Dare Emergency Management Twitter page. If you would like to receive these updates directly to your email, please sign up to receive our enotifications.
New positive cases are updated on the dashboard on our website and shared on the DHHS facebook page when we receive them. To find the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases in Dare County visit www.darenc.com/covid19. State COVID-19 data is available at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.
Contact Us
We encourage you to stay informed by visiting www.darenc.com/covid19 or by visiting the CDC or NC DHHS websites. If you have specific needs or questions you may also call the Dare County COVID-19 call center open Monday-Friday from 8:30 to 5:00 at 252-475-5008.
