NC offers $100 to people who get vaccines as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise

With the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 continuing to rise in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday that the state will pay $100 to people who get vaccinated at some sites across the state and $25 to people who drive them.

New COVID-19 cases in North Carolina held steady for the second day at just under 2,200 Tuesday, but roughly 150 people have been hospitalized during the first two days of August, according to the North Carolina DHHS COVID-19 dashboard.

The state reported 2,188 new cases Tuesday, after reporting 2,190 new cases on Monday. Before Monday, the state reported over 3,000 cases for three days in a row. Thursday’s case increase was the highest the state has reported since February.

The number of new cases tends to be lower on Mondays and Tuesdays, as fewer tests are taken and reported over the weekend. Last Tuesday, the state reported 1,603 cases; last Monday, 1,401.

The recent surge is mostly due to the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreading among people who have not been vaccinated health officials say. This variant is more transmissible and possibly more deadly.

Since the start of August, an additional 158 people have been hospitalized in North Carolina due to COVID-19. There are 1,465 people hospitalized in North Carolina — the highest number since late February — up 75 from Monday’s 1,390. There are 374 adult ICU COVID-19 patients; 26% of COVID-19 hospitalized patients are in the ICU statewide.

NCDHHS said Tuesday that those who are unvaccinated “run a higher risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 and the delta variant.”

The purpose of offering the $100 payments to those who get vaccinated is to “offset the time and transportation costs of getting vaccinated,” DHHS said. The deal runs Aug. 4 to 31 while supplies last.

Those who drive people to their appointments can do so as many times as they wish, but they’ll only receive one $25 Summer Card per visit.

DHHS has created an online map that shows the participating locations.

The state has also been running a million-dollar vaccine lottery to encourage people to get their shots. The effectiveness of that program is still unknown. The final drawing in that program is Wednesday.

As of Monday, the seven-day average hospitalizations were 1,187, the highest it’s been since about early March when it hit 1,208. Hospitalizations have increased every day since July 9, when there were 409 people hospitalized.

North Carolina reported nine additional deaths on Monday, marking a total of 13,679 deaths from COVID-19 in the state. The state first reached over 13,000 deaths in late May. As of Monday, the seven day average deaths was 12, the highest it’s been since June 24 when it was 13.

The most recent positivity rate data available is from Saturday, when it was 10.6%, up from the 9.3% rate reported Friday. Saturday’s positivity rate is the highest since Febr. 1, when 13.6% of tests were positive.

Durham County has reported 162 cases per 100,000 people over the last 14 days; Orange County reported 117 and Wake County 291. Durham has had 26,593 cases total, Orange 8,863 and Wake 93,799. The dashboard reports that Durham’s positivity rate was 4.0% on Saturday, the last day available; Orange’s was 3.0% and Wake’s 6.3%.

Health officials have said that a rate under 5% suggests that the spread of the virus is slowing; above 5%, that it is increasing.

From July 4 to 17, the last data available, the state’s county alert system labeled Wake and Orange Counties as yellow (significant spread) counties and Durham as a light yellow (moderate spread) county. Richmond County was the one red county in the state; only 34.3% of the county is fully vaccinated.

Fifty-five percent of North Carolinians 12 years or older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 59% of this age group has received at least one dose. These numbers are lower than the national averages; 58.1% of Americans 12 years or older are fully vaccinated, and 67.6% have received at least one dose.

Since July 5, the number of people being vaccinated each week has been increasing. During the week of July 26, the state vaccinated 106,497 people — a near tie with the 106,056 people vaccinated the week of June 21 — compared to the 78,781 people vaccinated the week of July 5.

NCDHHS recently told The News & Observer that more than 94% of cases and deaths reported since May 6 were in people who were not fully vaccinated. People who are vaccinated and contract COVID-19 typically avoid serious illness or hospitalization, the DHHS spokesperson wrote.

Additionally, during May and June, more than 99% of cases and more than 98% of hospitalizations and deaths were in people who were not fully vaccinated.

In terms of total cases, case rates, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccination rates, North Carolina was in the middle of the pack when compared to other states in the Southeast.