Guilford County Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston has more than his fair share of detractors, but whatever one says about his politics, Alston has certainly been a very vocal and persistent advocate for getting more COVID-19 vaccine into Guilford County. 

On Friday, Feb. 26, Alston and Guilford County got some stunningly good news in the constant quest for more vaccine.  At about 11:15 a.m. the White House COVID-19 Response Team announced in a nationally televised press briefing that a federal mass vaccination site would be established in Greensboro.

Alston, who recently persuaded NC Governor Roy Cooper to visit Guilford County and observe its vaccination efforts, has been working his contacts in the Democratic Party machine to try and get a mass vaccination site – from either the state or the federal government – established in Guilford County. 

The vaccination site will be set up at Dillard’s in Four Season’s Mall where an estimated  3,000 shots a day will be given for eight weeks.  More information will be provided soon.

“I’ll try to get another eight weeks after that,” Alston said on Friday.

When Alston was asked how he found out about the federally established mass vaccination effort, he said he’d received a phone call from Vice President Kamala Harris, who informed him of the plan for the mass site in Greensboro.

When Alston was asked if he was serious, he started laughing and said no, he had not really been contacted by the vice president.

“But I have my contacts,” he added.

Alston said that two main reasons the feds chose Guilford County is that it’s centrally located in North Carolina and the county has been doing a great job making sure that a high percentage of minorities and marginalized residents are being vaccinated.

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