Dare County offering two vaccine clinics this week, per Tuesday update

Dare County released the following update for Tuesday, April 13, which provides details on recent Coronavirus cases, upcoming vaccine clinics, and more COVID-19 information.

Dare County COVID-19 Case Update

This past week there were 27 new positive COVID-19 cases in Dare County. The virus continues to be predominantly spread by close contact between family members, co-workers and close friends. The percent of positive tests to total tests for this past week decreased from 7.49% to 6.57%. The total COVID-19 positive case count in Dare County is 3,034 of which there are 38 active cases among residents of Dare County. One resident remains hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19.

Since our last report on 4/6, there have been 39 new COVID-19 cases. Of these 39 new cases:

• 30 (78%) are symptomatic
• 33 (85%) acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual or individuals who were positive for COVID-19.

We know we can control the spread of the virus by practicing the 3Ws so please wear a face covering, wait 6 ft apart from others and wash your hands. In addition to the 3Ws, the most effective tool in controlling the spread of this virus is to get your COVID vaccine.

COVID-19 Vaccine

We are offering two vaccine clinics this week. On Friday, April 16th we will offer a Moderna vaccine clinic and on Saturday, April 17th we will offer a Pfizer vaccine clinic. Appointments are required and are still available for both of these clinics. You can register on-line at www.darenc.com/covidvaccine or email us at covid19@darenc.com.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are following the federal and state recommendations and immediately suspending administration of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine while the CDC and FDA review cases involving adverse events. As of April 12th, more than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the US and there have been reports of 6 cases of severe blot clots in women between the ages of 18 and 48, which occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP) tomorrow to further review these cases and assess their potential significance. Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare. People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html.

Over the past 14 weeks, we have provided 15,062 initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and have fully vaccinated 12,616 individuals. To date, we have not received a report of any fully vaccinated individuals in Dare County getting sick from COVID-19. In addition to preventing serious illness and death, getting your COVID-19 vaccine prevents you from being quarantined if you are exposed to a person who tests positive for COVID, as long as you remain symptom free. Now is a great time to get your vaccine so you can be fully vaccinated before the busy summer season is upon us.

Any NC resident or property owner 16 and older who wishes to receive the vaccine can now be vaccinated in Dare County. To register please go to our website now at www.darenc.com/covidvaccine to complete the vaccination request form.

If you have registered on our website for a vaccine and no longer need your appointment, please email us at covid19@darenc.com so we can remove you from our waitlist. Additionally, please only register one time through the website. If you are unsure if your registration was successfully submitted you may call us at 252-475-5008 or send us an email at covid19@darenc.com to check. This will help us be as efficient as possible when scheduling appointments.

Key Metrics

Each week we review the 4 key metrics associated with disease investigation and surveillance. The metrics are:

• Number of Tests
• Confirmed Cases
• Positive Tests as a Percent of Total Tests
• COVID Like Illness Surveillance

This past week there were 411 COVID-19 diagnostic tests reported in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March of last year to 36,560.  There were 27 positive cases between April 5 and April 11. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in March 2020 decreased slightly to 8.27%. The percent of positive tests to total tests for the past week alone decreased to 6.57%. Syndromic surveillance of individuals presenting with COVID like symptoms to the emergency department and urgent care centers continues to show low levels of activity. These graphs can be found on the Dare County website at www.darenc.com/covid19.

Communications and Information Sharing

Dare County DHHS has an established schedule of communication to share information regarding COVID-19. Every Tuesday, a written update and a video update which includes an overview of the previous week’s COVID-19 key metrics is issued. Additional updates will be released as needed. All released videos and written updates can be found on our website, DHHS facebook page, Dare County Twitter page, and Dare Emergency Management Twitter page. If you would like to receive these updates directly to your email, please sign up to receive our enotifications.

New positive cases are updated on the dashboard on our website and shared on the DHHS facebook page when we receive them. To find the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases in Dare County visit www.darenc.com/covid19. State COVID-19 data is available at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.