The federally supported Community Vaccination Center at Four Seasons Town Centre has closed after providing 143,659 vaccinations to people across North Carolina.
“The Greensboro vaccination center was a great success, providing more than 140,000 vaccines to the Piedmont Triad region and reaching historically underserved communities,” said Secretary Mandy Cohen of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. “It was a model that showcased the best of local, state and federal partnerships. It has demonstrated how important on-the-ground, trusted partners are to reaching historically underserved communities and facilitating access to vaccines.”
“I’m proud of this collaborative team effort with our federal, state and local partners to provide vaccines,” said North Carolina Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks. “Protecting public health and public safety go hand-in-hand during a pandemic, and that was demonstrated in this mission.”
“Many organizations worked together to make this clinic a tremendous success, and we are thankful for the appreciation shown by the local community,” said North Carolina Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry. “Each day this outstanding team found new ways to improve and implement new ideas to make a stronger operation.”
Federal and state partners worked closely with community-based organizations in the area to ensure vaccine appointments for underserved communities. Of the 116,363 doses administered at the Four Seasons Town Centre, more than 23% have gone to Black or African American individuals, who make up 23% of North Carolina’s population, and more than 16% to people from Hispanic/LatinX communities, who make up almost 10% of the state’s population.
The center was open for 12 weeks, giving its first shots on March 9 and its final shots on May 27. For the first six weeks, the site provided up to 3,000 vaccinations per day, with options for drive-thru service and service at an indoor clinic. First and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine were available. Guilford County high school students who wanted to be vaccinated were transported to the site on school buses and vaccinated on the bus.
North Carolinians looking for a first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine can go to myspot.nc.gov to find a vaccination center.
The center was organized and operated by the state, and staffed with mostly federal personnel, including 139 U.S. Air Force personnel at its peak. It was supported with resources from Guilford County, AmeriCorps, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, including Emergency Management, Community Corrections and the North Carolina National Guard. Support services included logistics, information technology, data entry, emergency medical services and security.
Guilford County was selected for a vaccination site by FEMA and the CDC as an area with significant underserved or marginalized populations, using a range of criteria including the Centers for Disease Control Social Vulnerability Index (CDC SVI), historical COVID-19 community impacts and the current rate and pace of equitable community vaccinations.
To reach more marginalized and underserved communities, the main vaccination center was supported by additional spoke sites at the CityGate Dream Center and Eric Lane in Alamance County (in partnership with Cone Health/Alamance Regional Medical Center) and Winston Salem State University in Forsyth County (in partnership with the Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center). Of the total 143,659 doses, these spoke locations distributed 27,296 doses, of which more than 29% have gone to people who are Black or African American and 31% to Hispanic/LatinX individuals.