CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Vaccination rates in the Carolinas are slowly inching up week by week and leaders are hopeful those who haven't gotten the shots yet will reconsider.
In North Carolina, 52% of the population is fully vaccinated and 57% is partially. In South Carolina, half of the eligible population is fully vaccinated and 59% of the eligible population has at least one shot.
Experts say the majority of people in the hospital are unvaccinated and most COVID-19 deaths are now preventable.
Plus, new research shows that for some, the vaccines do more than protect them from severe cases of the virus, it also has a positive impact on their mental health.
A local psychotherapist said she’s noticed a big uptick in the number of people seeking out mental health services during the pandemic, and that the vaccine rollout brought many feelings of relief.
The world essentially shut down in March 2020, and it led many people to shut down too. New feelings of stress and anxiety bubbled up as COVID-19 spread.
"COVID isolated a lot of us and so a lot of coping mechanisms that were healthy that we had, like if you're feeling down you hang out with that particular girlfriend or you see your family members, all of a sudden those things were gone,” Soltana Nosrati, LCSW, said.
The vaccine rollout was a light at the end of a very long tunnel for some. For many grandparents it was key to getting more quality time.
“We wanted to make sure we got vaccinated as soon as possible so we wouldn't have too much time away from her,” Vivian Derienzo said. She and her husband spoke to WCNC Charlotte right as they got in from Florence, in town to visit their 3-year-old granddaughter Olive Rose.
“It was satisfying to know that you did something to remediate the concern,” Derienzo said. “That there was something to be done to make sure you didn't get COVID so we were in line first and foremost we were glad we got it."
Soltana Nosrati, a psychotherapist with Novant Health, says the vaccine not only alleviates some of the fears around the virus but gives many people the freedom to live a life more familiar to them.
“That human touch is the one thing that was missing and the vaccine opens the door to more of that happening with a little bit less of a risk. I think that’s a pretty big deal regardless of what age group you're looking at,” Nosrati said.
Nosrati also said for some, the thought of getting vaccinated brings up feelings of anxiety. She said those feelings are valid and that they need to be acknowledged and discussed. Dismissing those feelings will not help change minds or ease fears.
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions reporting on and engaging the community around the problems and solutions as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.