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Novant Health receives first COVID-19 vaccines

The Charlotte hospital system received the first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Thursday. Other local hospitals have also started getting the vaccine.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Novant Health in Charlotte received its first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine this week as the hospital system begins work to vaccinate staff and medical professionals on the frontlines.

The hospital is expected to get about 68,000 doses of the vaccine.  The first shipments started arriving Thursday morning and were promptly put into special freezers to keep them extremely cold. The Pfizer vaccine must be kept minus 70 degrees Celsius to remain effective. 

Other area hospitals also began receiving doses of the vaccine this week, including Piedmont Medical Center.  Piedmont received 975 doses of the vaccine Wednesday night. 

Eric Morrison, the EMS Director for Piedmont Medical Center, was one of the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the hospital.  

North Carolina health officials have laid out a four phase plan for vaccinations which begin with healthcare professionals at hospitals.  

The shipments to Novant Health and other area hospitals come days after Atrium Health's Carolina Medical Center received the city's first shipment of the vaccines.

RELATED: First shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines arrives in Charlotte

The Pfizer vaccine, the first vaccine to be approved of several in the works, was distributed to hospital groups in North Carolina beginning Monday.

More doses of the vaccine are expected to continue arriving in the greater Charlotte area over the next several weeks. 

Health care workers at high risk of COVID-19 and people working in long-term care facilities are at the top of the state’s priority list for vaccines, but Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said hospitals will decide who is vaccinated first. 

A second phase of vaccinations will include front-line workers, school staff and those who are over the age of 65 or are considered high risk. 

Once those populations are vaccinated, phase three will launch, covering all essential workers and students.

And finally phase four, which will include the remaining population, an estimated 3.6 million to 4 million people.

Experts say the vaccine won't be readily available to the general public until the second quarter of 2021, but Dr. Cohen urges everyone to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to them. 

   

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