Wake County reducing COVID-19 testing, vaccine appointments with cases declining

Wake County is reducing its amount of COVID-19 testing and vaccination appointments as cases and hospitalizations continue to fall.

The county is dropping its daily testing capacity by 75 percent and vaccine appointments by 50 percent.

County officials said they've seen a steady decrease in cases and hospitalizations since mid-January. The announcement comes as the county reports that 81 percent of its residents aged five and older have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, one of the highest percentages among North Carolina counties.

The county's new schedule will offer 1,900 testing appointments and 1,015 vaccine appointments per day across all sites. The schedule will go into effect on March 17.

Both no-cost services are available six days a week. Those days, hours and locations will remain the same for now.

“This is a great sign of the progress we’re making in bringing case numbers down and reducing community spread of the virus,” said Chair Sig Hutchinson of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. “Thanks to more doctors’ offices and pharmacies offering these services, new treatments for post-infection, as well as the increased availability of free at-home testing kits, the community now has more options than ever to protect themselves and their families.”

In January, the county performed 216,111 tests, but performed just 60,238 in February and 14,782 tests so far in March.