Efforts to get people vaccinated for the coronavirus in North Carolina are picking up pace, with many counties starting to give the first shots to people 75 and older. 

As county health departments and hospitals begin the next phase of vaccinations, the state is sending help for already overworked staff at hospitals and public health departments.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has activated the National Guard, and he is sending hundreds of state workers to help.

“Vaccine supply across the country is severely limited. But the goal is for us here to distribute as quickly as possible all of the vaccines given to North Carolina by the federal government and to be ready for much more,” Cooper said Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, more than 210,000 people in North Carolina had received their first dose of one of the two vaccines for COVID-19, according to federal data. At least about 29,000 people have gotten the second dose.

The two vaccines approved for the coronavirus, from Pfizer and Moderna, require two shots to be 95% effective.

North Carolina has seen record numbers of new daily cases and hospitalizations in the last week. The state reported more than 100 more coronavirus deaths Wednesday.

“After almost a year battling this virus, we must not get numb to these numbers,” Cooper said Tuesday, warning people not to let their guard down against the pandemic.

The state Department of Health and Human Services is working with local officials to host mass vaccination events around the state.

“While most of our counties have started vaccinating anyone 75 and older, there will still be a wait for most people,” DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Coehn said Tuesday.

“We continue to accelerate vaccinations,” Cohen said. “Over 100,000 doses were given in just the past seven days.” It could be April before vaccine is widely available, Cohen said earlier.

Cooper said hospitals and local health departments, tasked with distributing the vaccine to the public, can get help from the state.

In Chatham County, just south of Chapel Hill, public health officials are starting to vaccinate people in the next group, anyone 75 and older.

Chatham County Public Health Director Mike Zelek said his entire staff of 68 is focused on the pandemic and getting the vaccine out. They’re also getting help from volunteers, and some administrative support staff will be coming Wednesday from the state.

“It’s a big lift. It’s a tremendous amount of effort to respond to a pandemic and now to get the vaccine out. But it’s really a community response,” he said.

“Logistically, getting set up, getting our administrative systems, registration, all of that online to be able to handle the volume of phone calls and forms filled out and emails that we’ve gotten, this is something that health departments are dealing with across the state,” Zelek said.

Chatham County is a largely rural area, but is near major hospitals like UNC Health and Duke Health, which are both helping get people vaccinated.

In Chatham and around the state, people do not have to get vaccinated in the county where they live. When it’s someone’s turn to get the vaccine, they can get an appointment with a county public health department, hospital or other providers.

“There will be a vaccine for everyone, it will just take some time to get us there,” Zelek said. “It’s just a massive effort.”

A spokesman for the county said about 1,500 people have signed up to get vaccines in the next group, focused on people 75 and up. He estimates there are about 10,000 people 75 and older in the county, but doesn’t know how many will take the vaccine.

Zelek said his department and local hospitals are working to get vaccines to underserved communities in the county.

He said the county is getting ready to roll out mobile vaccination teams to bring vaccines to where people live.

“What we want to do is not only get the vaccine out as quickly as possible, but really reach the folks who may have poor access to it, including historically marginalized communities with homebound populations,” Zelek said.

This week federal officials told states to prioritize vaccinating anyone 65 and older, the governor said. He expressed some frustration with the changing guidance from the White House coronavirus task force.

So far, North Carolina has not changed its plans for vaccine distribution to include those 65 and older. Cohen said the state had not gotten new guidance in writing from federal public health officials.

North Carolina is currently in Phase 1b, with many counties moving into Group 1. People can contact their local health department or doctor to figure out where they are on the priotity list for the vaccine.

Here is the current plan for rolling out the vaccine in North Carolina:

Phase 1a: Health care workers fighting COVID-19 and long-term care staff and residents.

Hospitals and local health departments are vaccinating health care workers caring for and working directly with patients with COVID-19 and those giving vaccines. In addition, the federal government is vaccinating long-term care residents and staff.

Phase 1b: Adults 75 years or older and frontline essential workers.

This phase of vaccinations will open in groups, which officials say should begin in early January.

• Group 1: Anyone 75 years or older regardless of medical condition or living situation. People do not have to have a chronic health condition.
• Group 2: Health care and frontline essential workers who are 50 years of age or older.
• Group 3: Frontline workers of any age and health care workers of any age, regardless of whether they work directly with COVID-19 patients.

The CDC defines frontline essential workers as first responders (firefighters, police), education (child care, teachers, support staff), manufacturing, corrections officers, public transit, grocery store, food and agriculture, and US Postal Service workers.

Phase 2: Adults at high risk for exposure and at increased risk of severe illness.

In this phase, vaccinations will also open in groups.

• Group 1: Anyone ages 65-74 years regardless of medical condition or living situation.
• Group 2: Anyone 16-64 years with a medical condition that increases risk of severe disease from COVID-19.
• Group 3: Anyone who is incarcerated or living in other close group living settings who has not already vaccinated due to age, medical condition or job function.
• Group 4: Essential workers as defined by the CDC who have not yet been vaccinated.

Phase 3: Students. College, university and high school students 16 or older.

Younger children will only be vaccinated when the vaccine is approved for them.

Phase 4: Finally, anyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one.