The COVID-19 vaccine distribution debacle in Guilford County even has red and blue working together.
The co-chairs of the Guilford County Legislative Delegation Democratic state Rep. Ashton Clemmons and Republican state Rep. Jon Hardister sent a joint letter to Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen.
The letter is a result of Guilford County not receiving over 10,400 anticipated doses of the COVID-19 vaccine last week. Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston reportedly spent the weekend on the phone tracking down available doses of the vaccine and managed to get about 400 delivered – enough to meet the Guilford County Health Departments Monday appointments. But Cone Health was forced to cancel or postpone over 10,000 appointments.
At the same time over 30,000 doses of the vaccine where being shipped to Charlotte for two mass vaccination events, one at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and one at Bank of America Stadium.
The letter states, “As you know, Guilford County, along with many other counties across the State, were recently faced with substantial vaccine delivery postponements, with caused significant hardships for both providers and patients. We understand significant efforts were made at the state level to improve the process in the past week.”
The letter asks that NCDHHS focus on two things:
“Predictability: Maintain a reliable, predictable vaccine delivery model that ensures all counties are receiving their fair share of the vaccine doses in an orderly fashion.
“Transparency: The vaccine distribution model should be as transparent as possible.”
The letter from Clemmons and Hardister also reiterates a request made by Alston and Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan that Guilford County be considered for a mass vaccination site. The letter lists the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and the High Point Mall as two available locations.
It states, “Due to the centralized location of Guilford County, and the accessibility via I-40 and I-85, we believe we have a unique geographic advantage to help vaccinate a high percentage of people who reside in the central region of North Carolina.”
