GREENSBORO, N.C. — Governor Roy Cooper toured the FEMA mass vaccination clinic on its opening day in Greensboro Wednesday.
He got a look at operations at both the indoor and drive-through clinics along with North Carolina Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry. While touring he greeted people getting their vaccinations and thanked U.S. Air Force and National Guard service members.
"They feel good about it and I think equally, all of the people who are working at this site feel the same way. I mean they get to see it in person after person after person," Cooper said.
Guilford County officials like Health Director Dr. Iulia Vann and Emergency Management Director Don Campbell greeted him during his visit. Board of Commissioners Chair Skip Alston accompanied him on the tour.
"He could have picked any city and any other county in this entire state but he chose Guilford County, North Carolina and we appreciate his confidence that he has placed in the citizens of Guilford County," Alston said.
The Greensboro site will become a hub for other smaller vaccination clinics. Officials have not released locations for those sites but state Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Kody Kinsley offered some details on how those will work.
"It's gonna look like churches and community centers. 500 doses here or 1000 doses there and real intentionality working with community health workers, community-based organizations to make sure that people across North Carolina and across this region can get access," Kinsley said.
Kinsley said the hope is to launch those sites next week.
The FEMA clinic in Greensboro will remain open for the next eight weeks. FEMA officials expect there will be discussions about keeping it open longer after an efficient first day.
"If this works well, we would hope that there could be an extension but we're grateful for what we have because these vaccines are over and above our allocation that we're getting already," Cooper said.
The site was expected to vaccinate 3,000 people a day but Kinsley said more than 3,500 would be vaccinated by the end of the day Wednesday because the site was more efficient than expected.