ROCKINGHAM — FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital–Richmond and the Richmond County Health Department continue to register members of the public for COVID-19 vaccination through Operation FirstShot.
“We encourage anyone 65 or older to register and get scheduled for a first shot while vaccine is available and before we open scheduling to additional recipients via the state’s guidelines,” John Jackson, president of FirstHealth’s Southern Region and administrator of MRH-Richmond, said.
Anyone 65 or older who would like to be vaccinated should call 910-417-3030 to schedule an appointment. Please be prepared to leave a voicemail message with your name, date of birth, email address and a phone number where you can be reached. A representative of the hospital or health department will call you back as soon as possible to schedule the appointment.
Currently there are 1,000 doses available for the week beginning Feb. 15, 2021. Should the vaccine supply be exhausted before all calls are returned, your call will be returned when more supply is available. Hospital officials request you don’t leave multiple messages and encourage only those who are currently eligible to call the registration line. Teachers and school system employees under 65 years old are not eligible to receive vaccines until Feb. 24.
“We plan to release more details soon about how teachers and childcare professionals, along with other people in Group 3 of the state’s vaccine rollout, will schedule their vaccination appointments,” Jackson said.
COVID-19 vaccination requires two doses. The second dose will be given approximately 28 days after the first dose. FirstHealth and the Health Department will schedule a second vaccine at the time recipients receive the first one. In Richmond County, all residents will receive the Moderna vaccine.
Please be prepared to wait up to 30 minutes after vaccination. All vaccinated persons will be monitored for any side-effects by hospital personnel. We ask that you arrive at your appointment time and no earlier.
FirstHealth and Richmond Health Department officials stressed that vaccine supplies are extremely limited. Ongoing clinics, which will be by appointment only, will depend on vaccine allotments from the state.
