CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two days after announcing details on a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, Atrium Health said all available appointments have been booked.
Atrium Health told WCNC Charlotte they expect around 19,000 people to be vaccinated at the three-day clinic this weekend. This comes after a successful clinic at Charlotte Motor Speedway led to approximately 16,000 vaccinations. The speedway clinic was run by a partnership between Atrium Health, Honeywell, Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This all comes as North Carolina confirmed its first case of the new COVID-19 strain in Mecklenburg County. The CDC says the highly contagious strain could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.
Two days after announcing details on a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, Atrium Health said all available appointments have been booked.
Atrium Health told WCNC Charlotte they expect around 19,000 people to be vaccinated at the three-day clinic this weekend. This comes after a successful clinic at Charlotte Motor Speedway led to approximately 16,000 vaccinations. The speedway clinic was run by a partnership between Atrium Health, Honeywell, Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This all comes as North Carolina confirmed its first case of the new COVID-19 strain in Mecklenburg County. The CDC says the highly contagious strain could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.
"We are really in a race against COVID," Professor of Emergency Medicine, Atrium Health Chief of Disaster Medicine David Callaway said. "COVID is mutating the new version is more contagious, the next mutation could be more deadly we don't know."
The speedway was the first major sporting venue in North Carolina to become a mass vaccine clinic.
"We all know that the path back to normalcy is through the vaccination," Charlotte Motor Speedway General Manager Greg Walter said.
Officials with the partnership said the speedway's weekend event went well and that they were on track to meet the goal of administering 16,000 shots.
"One of the things we learned is having our drive-thrus are just a great way, they're very convenient for our patients," Atrium Health Chief Nursing Informatics Officer Becky Fox said.
Still, with concerns growing that this new variant could make cases soar, health experts said safety measures are critical.
"We're seeing still record number infections were seeing high numbers of deaths we are not through this, but if you mask up, vax up, physically distance, wash your hands -- we're going to get through this," Callaway said.
The clinics are for anyone who is eligible, right now that's health care workers and anyone 65 years or older. An appointment is required, you can make one here: AtriumHealth.org/COVID19Vaccine