Wake Forest Baptist has received a shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the first step in protecting healthcare workers who are likely to face exposure to the virus.
It may well go down as a milestone moment in the local fight against the pandemic. A morning delivery brought almost 3,000 doses to Wake Forest Baptist.
They'll be held in a supercooled freezer that will keep the temperature-sensitive vaccines at minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit until distribution begins.
Other area healthcare networks expect to get the vaccine for their workers later this week.
State Health Secretary Mandy Cohen said recently more than 85,000 doses are expected to arrive in North Carolina this week.
Under the state's vaccine plan, those initial doses are for health care workers in about half the state's hospitals.
Cohen says it's unknown when the vaccine will be available for widespread distribution in North Carolina, but that it's not likely to happen before springtime.
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