Jason Wittes, Wake County's pharmacy director, discusses the county's plans for setting up appointments for coronavirus vaccinations for people ages 65 or older.
7:00. >>> JOINING US NOW TO ANSWER MORE OF YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT WAKE COUNTY'S VACCINE PLAN IS PHARMACY DIRECTOR DR. JASON WITIZ. THANKS FOR TALKING WITH US. EVEN THOUGH THE GOAL IS FOR WAKE COUNTY GOVERNMENT, AS WELL AS LOCAL HOSPITALS, TO HAVE EVERYONE IN THIS COUNTY VACCINATED AT SOME POINT, WE DO UNDERSTAND THERE IS STILL SOME HIS TANSY EVEN AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS. AS PHARMACIST, HOW DO YOU DRESS THAT? >> I THINK THE BEST THINK TO DO IS EDUCATION. RIGHT? ANSWERING QUESTIONS FROM PEOPLE, FIELDING THEM, HAVING FAQs ON OUR WEBSITE, BEING ABLE TO TAKE THE TIME TO MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE AND SEE WHAT THEIR HIS TANSIES ARE AND SORT OF DRESS THEM. IF IT'S AN INJECTION SITE PAIN ISSUE, LIMIT THEM KNOW YOU CAN TAKE SOME TYLENOL, AND DO NORMAL COUNSELING LIKE EVERY PHARMACIST IS TRAIN OFFED TO DO. SO WE FILL A SPECIAL ROLE, AND LATE BIT OF TIME WITH A PHARMACIST GOES A LONG WAY. IT CAN HELP CAGE SOME OF THOSE MINDSETS. >> WHEN THE , WE THE WEBSITE OPENS, AS FAR AS YOU KNOW, YOU'RE PREPARED. YOU HAVE A CALL CENTER TO WORK WITH YOU. YET SOMETHING OF THIS MAGNITUDE HAS NOT BEEN TESTED YET FOR THIS AREA. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE PREPARED FOR THE ONSLAUGHT, THE INITIAL ONSLAUGHT OF CALLS YOU'RE GOING TO GET? >> I DO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE PREPARED FOR THAT. WE HAVE TESTED THE SYSTEM OURSELVES INTERNALLY. OBVIOUSLY TO YOUR POINT, WE HAVE NOT HAD IT GO LIVE TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO STRESS THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE THE FIRST PERSON TO CALL US AND DON'T NEED TO KEEP CALLING OVER AND OVER AGAIN, OR YOU DO NOT NEED TO KEEP GOING TO OUR WEBSITE OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THERE'S TWO WAYS TO REACH OUT TO US. SO EITHER CALLING THE 919-250-1515, OR GOING TO OUR WAKEGOV.COM/VACCINE WEBSITE. BOTH WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. ONE WILL BE DONE OVER THE PHONE, THE OTHER THROUGH YOUR COMPUTER OR MOBILE DEVICE, AND THEN YOU'LL BE PUT INTO OUR WAIT LIST AND SOME LOGIC WILL BE APPLIED THOSE QUESTIONS, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU ANSWER, AND WE'LL REACH OUT TO YOU AND TELL YOU IT'S YOUR TIME TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT. AND THEN YOU WILL COME HERE AND GET YOUR VACCINE. YOU WON'T BE WAITING IN LINE. YOU WON'T BE STANDING IN THE COLD. YOU KNOW, YOU'LL BE GUARANTEED YOUR DOSE WHEN IT'S YOUR TIME, AND THAT'S WHY SOME PATIENCE AND TIME IS REQUIRED. >> I THINK YOU JUST HIST ON THE KEY WORD ABOUT PATIENCE. FOR MANY OF US IN LIFE, WHILE PATIENCE MAY BE A VIRTUE, IT'S NOT ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE, PARTICULARLY WHEN WE'RE SCARED, AS SO MANY PEOPLE ARE TODAY. HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE THEM TO SAY JUST HOLD ON ANOTHER DAY OR TWO, ANOTHER WEEK EVEN. IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY. >> YEAH, I THINK BEING UP FRONT AND TRANSPARENT ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS HERE WITH PATIENCE. MY WIFE CAN ATTEST THAT I AM ONE OF LITTLE PATIENCE. SO WE HAVE THIS PLAN IN MIND WITH KNOWING THAT THE PERSON WHO HELPED CO-WRITE THE PLAN IS COMING FROM THAT SAME BACKGROUND. SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST -- IT'S A NUMBERS GAME, REALLY, FOR US, IN TERMS OF -- IT'S NOT THE NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS WE CAN SEE OR THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT WE CAN HAVE THROUGH OUR SITE HERE OR THROUGH OUR HOSPITAL PARTNERS, IT'S JUST SHARING THE NUMBER OF DOSES THAT WE HAVE ON HAND AND OUR HOSPITAL PARTNERS HAVE ON HAND TO PUT INTO ARMS OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GET VACCINED. >> ONE LAST THING, DOCTOR, AFTER WE GET THE FINAL DOSE, AND I'M FORTUNATE THAT I'M NOW ON A CALENDAR IN ANOTHER COUNTY, IN ABOUT 10 DAYS, TO GET THAT FIRST DOSE, BUT I HAVE A 5-MONTH-OLD GRANDSON THAT WILL I'M JUST BITING AT THE BIT TO SEE. HOW LONG BEFORELY SAFELY BE ABLE TO SEE HIM, AFTER I GET THE SECOND DOSE? >> SO WE ARE STILL ENCOURAGING EVERYONE TO FOLLOW THE THREE W'S. WEAR YOUR FACE MASK, WASH YOUR HANDS AND WAIT. IT'S GOING TO BE A WHILE BEFORE THINGS SORT OF RETURN BACK TO NORMAL. WHAT WE SAW PRECOVID HERE. GETTING VACCINATED DOES NOT STOP YOU FROM SPREADING THE VIRUS AT THIS POINT, SO THAT'S WHY MORE STUDIES AND RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO BE PROVEN TO SEE THAT. SO, AGAIN, NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE TO BE PATIENT ABOUT GETTING THE VACCINE, BUT ALSO SORT OF RETURNING LIFE TO NORMAL. YOU DON'T BUILD A MAGICAL SHIELD AROUND YOU, UNFORTUNATELY, THAT HAS IT SHOOT OFF, SO WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, AND WE'LL ALL KEEP DOING WHAT IS RIGHT TO KEEP US ALL SAFE AND SOUND. >> DOCTOR, WE APPRECIATE YOUR INSIGHT AND YOUR TIME. YOU, AS THE WAKE COUNTY PHARMACY DIRECTOR.
