GREENSBORO, N.C. — The FEMA coronavirus vaccine clinic, expected to put 3,000 doses in arms a day, opened Wednesday in Greensboro. Air Force service members and National Guardsmen were ready to roll at the Four Seasons Town Centre as cars started lining up to receive the first doses at the clinic.
The clinic will administer 168,000 doses over the next eight weeks.
Gov. Roy Cooper toured the vaccine site on its opening day, speaking with vaccine administrators and those receiving their first dose.
To make an appointment:
- Go to gsomassvax.org
- Or call the COVID-19 Vaccine Help Center at 1-888-675-4567
- Appointments may still be available over the phone, even if you can't get one online
The federally-run clinic will be the only one of its kind in our state when it opens.
"All of that improves our ability to get supply out to the folks in North Carolina. We're going to keep pushing to make sure we get things out fast and equitably," NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said. She toured the clinic with the governor on Wednesday.
Carolyn Gaines is one of many who will get her vaccine at the site's drive-thru clinic on Thursday.
"I want to be able to go around some of my other family," Gaines said, "Some of my family I haven't seen in over a year and I'm a family person."
Gaines lives in Asheboro but works in a Greensboro restaurant.
"I drive up here every day for work and I mean, it's only like 20 minutes from me really, so it's not bad. It's worth it," Gaines said.
There is also a clinic inside the mall.
Anyone getting a vaccine should enter on the Vanstory Street side of the mall. From there, you will be directed to parking for the indoor clinic or the line for the drive-thru clinic.
Gaines said the prick of the needle is worth it to end the pandemic.
"Fifteen minutes out of my day to get something that's really necessary and really important, because I want it to be a day where I don't have to wear a mask no more," Gaines said.
For the first six weeks, the clinic will use the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. They'll switch to the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for the final two weeks.