Emergency Preparedness and Response:
January 20, 2021

Public Health Chat for January 2021

This video was filmed on January 13th, 2021. It contains a COVID-19 update by Orange County Health Director, Quintana Stewart, a talk with clinical social worker Denise Blanco-Duran (beginning at 4:50) and lastly a talk with Director Stewart and Rebecca Crawford (beginning at 11:11) about the COVID-19 vaccination plan.

More information about COVID-19 vaccines in Orange County, NC may be found at www.orangecountync.gov/getyourshot

NCDHHS Revises the Vaccine Plan to Simplify Who is Eligible

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) revised its vaccine distribution plan on Jan. 14 to simplify who is eligible to receive the vaccine.
North Carolina moves through vaccination phases by aligning to federal priorities while giving local health departments and hospitals the flexibility to move to the next priority group when they are ready. NCDHHS says that providers who are ready may vaccinate individuals in Phases 1 and 2.

Phase 1 – all health care workers, long-term care residents and staff
Phase 2 – Older Adults (65+)
Phase 3 – Frontline Essential Workers such as first responders (firefighters, police),
education (teachers, support staff, daycare), food and agriculture, manufacturing, corrections workers, U.S. Postal service workers, public transit workers and grocery store workers
Phase 4 – Adults at High Risk for exposure and increased risk of severe illness
Phase 5 – Everyone

Commonly Asked Vaccine Appointment Questions

Due for your second shot?

Due to the high number of surveys that we've been receiving for first shots, second dose scheduling has been impacted.
Please continue to check your email for an invitation to schedule your second dose. Because we are experiencing high call volumes please wait for your invitation via email and do not call the health department to check on the status of scheduling your second dose.

We do apologize for the delay.

Are you on the Vaccine Waitlist?

When you sign up, you will get this message: This message confirms you are on the COVID-19 vaccination appointment waitlist. When an appointment becomes available, we will notify you via email or by phone (for people who do not have an email). We are working as quickly as we can to contact all eligible community members who are on the waitlist, but vaccine supply is limited. To ensure you do not miss a chance to schedule an appointment, check the SPAM folder in your email and set up voice mail to receive phone messages. We do not have an estimate as to when you will be contacted. There is no need to follow up. We are experiencing high call volumes and are doing everything we can to serve all of our community members needs as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your patience. We hope to be contacting you very soon.

COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment Scheduling Guide:

DO:
• Call 919-913-8088 to schedule an appointment. This is the only phone number available for appointment scheduling for the Orange County Health Department. Our scheduling line will be available Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In Orange County, you may also get a vaccine appointment through UNC Health by calling 984-215-5485.
• Call back later, if you don’t reach us.  Due to high volume and staffing we can’t return calls.
• Please be patient! We understand your frustrations with the COVID vaccination process. We feel the same frustration due to the limited doses of the vaccine and we are training additional staff as quickly as possible to answer calls and emails.
PLEASE:
• Wait until it is your turn! Even though you may be anxious, please DON’T call to schedule (or fill out the vaccine interest survey) before you are eligible. We are currently scheduling Group 1 and Group 2 (adults 65 or older) only.
• Don’t call this phone number for general inquiries. In order to make appointments as quickly as possible, we will use 919-913-8088 for VACCINE SCHEDULING ONLY. For general information:
                        • Visit our website at www.orangecountync.gov/getyourshot
                        • Email covid19vaccine@orangecountync.gov
                          • Call our general COVID hotline at 919-245-6111.

Want to Volunteer?

Please use the link below for anyone who is interested in volunteering with the county’s COVID-19 efforts:

https://redoak.orangecountync.gov/redcap/surveys/?s=LT3TT97Y83

Interested in Volunteering for Covid-19 Vaccination Efforts with UNC Health? Volunteers are needed to serve as runners, help patients with wayfinding, push wheelchairs, and other administrative tasks. You must be willing to submit a background check that costs $15, commit to working at least 4 hours per week for at least an 8 week period (shifts may vary by day and time), and complete all necessary compliance trainings. Volunteers will receive a uniform and ID badge before reporting for their first shift. If you are interested, please contact UNC Volunteer Services at 984-974-4793. Volunteers are eligible for a Covid-19 Vaccine with a minimal shift commitment.

COVID-19 Testing Events

For the most up-to-date information on testing please visit: orangecountync.gov/testing.

Daily testing will continue Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 6 pm in Chapel Hill at the R7 parking lot at 725 MLK Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
Pre-registration is encouraged: https://lhi.care/covidtesting

Daily testing will continue Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm in Hillsborough at the Whitted Human Services Building at 300 W. Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278.
Pre-registration is encouraged: https://unityphm.com/campaigns/starmed.

Piedmont Health is offering COVID-19 testing events for adults age 60+:

Friday, January 22, 10am - 1pm
Passmore Center
103 Meadowlands Dr
Hillsborough, NC 27278

For the Piedmont Health testing you will receive test results within 3-5 business days. Testing is available with or without insurance at no cost. Pre-registration is encouraged. Walk-ups welcome. Call M-F 8-5 or Sat 8-1 to register and receive an appointment time: (919) 545-3452.

You may find other Orange County testing sites, not associated with the Orange County Health Department, at this link:
https://www.orangecountync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11576/Coronavirus-Testing-Chart-PDF

For other testing location in North Carolina, use this link:
https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/about-covid-19/testing/find-my-testing-place

The Nations's Health:
Communities recognizing racism as a public health crisis: Declarations grow

When Jen Freiheit stepped in as health officer in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, in late 2019, working to have racism officially declared a public health crisis was on the top of her to-do list.
The Kenosha health division led countywide declaration efforts, drawing on an antiracism resolution adopted in 2018 by the Wisconsin Public Health Association and drafting a localized declaration that lays out the county’s stark racial inequities in health outcomes and opportunity. The final resolution, which the Kenosha County Board voted 18-1 to adopt in early August, declared racism a public health crisis and called for policy and procedural action.
“It’s vitally important that public health moves away from old practices and learns how to integrate equity and the social determinants of health into everything we do,” said Freiheit, PhD, MCHES, director at the Kenosha County Division of Health. “And clearly, many of those center around racism.”

READ MORE: https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/50/10/1.2

North Carolina COVID-19 Cases

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reports 690,912 COVID-19 cases, 8,200 deaths, and 3,740 hospitalizations as of January 20, 2021. 344,456 people have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 60,073 have completed their series as of January 18, 2021.

There are currently 6,117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 69 deaths in Orange County as of January 19, 2021. 9,886 people have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 2,667 have completed their vaccine series, as of January 18, 2021.

For more information regarding live updates (NCDHHS updates the site every day around noon), please visit the NCDHHS website.

Orange County Health Department also has a COVID-19 dashboard webpage, with information on COVID-19 data in the county.

COVID-19 Community Resources

For more information on COVID-19 community resources in the county, please visit our webpage. Resources on specific topic areas, such as food access, education, housing, and others, are all accessible on our website, or at the links below.

Contact Information

For general questions (not urgent) about 2019 Novel Coronavirus, contact NCDHHS at: ncresponse@dhhs.nc.gov or 1-866-462-3821 to address general questions about coronavirus from the public.

If you are an individual or a medical practice with questions about COVID-19, call the Orange County Health Department at (919) 245-6111. During business hours (8:30a.m. to 5 p.m.)

Contact Kristin Prelipp, the Orange County Health Department’s Public Information Officer at: kprelipp@orangecountync.gov or 919-245-2462

Orange County Health Department:
Web: www.orangecountync.gov/coronavirus
Phone: 919-245-2400
Email: covid19@orangecountync.gov
Facebook: Orange County Health Department
Instagram: OrangeHealthNC
Twitter: Orange Health NC
Youtube: OCHDNC