CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A group of public and private partners are setting an auspicious goal of vaccinating 1 million people in North Carolina before July 4, 2021.

What You Need To Know

  • One million to be vaccinated by July 4, according to plan

  • Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bank of America Stadium, and a site in Winston-Salem will be used

  • First Speedway drive could happen as soon as next weekend, if supply permits

The group, consisting of Honeywell, Atrium Health, Tepper Sports and Entertainment, and Charlotte Motor Speedway, is working to create mass vaccination campaigns between mid-January and Independence Day.

In a press release, the group said Gov. Roy Cooper is backing the push and they are working with state, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County health departments.

Given the sponsoring participants, it’s expected Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte Motor Speedway will be used for the drives, which are still being planned.

 

 

A third location, somewhere in the Winston-Salem area, is still to be announced.

At the track Thursday, Charlotte Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager Greg Walter said it was an honor to participate in the effort.

"We’ve been here since 1960, entertaining people from all over the country, all over the world. It’s our stewardship, our responsibility, to give back to our community, and that’s what we do here,” Walter says.

Walter, who’s been with the Speedway since 1999, says it’ll be a crowning achievement in the Speedway’s 60-year legacy.

"For anybody to say you’re vaccinating a million people in one area is just an amazing feat. But, that you’re part of something that changed lives, helped save lives, can’t think of anything more rewarding than that,” Walter adds.

Since April of 2020, the track has served as a drive-thru testing center, socially distant drive-in movie theater, socially distant graduation venue, and home of drive-thru Christmas lights.

Walter says being in the sport of NASCAR, which was one of the first to return to live events in the United States last spring, prepared them for how to coordinate and plan COVID-19 protocols.

And, in an additional twist, two and a half years ago, the Speedway began coordinating with local health departments on the possibility they would one day have to vaccinate large amounts of people.

“Almost a year ago, we actually did a model run, a mock run if you will, of inoculations for the county. So, we already had the formula -- the plan laid out,” Walter says.

The racing general manager says it took just a simple phone call from their new partners for them to opt into the initiative and race into planning mode.

On a separate call Thursday afternoon, Mecklenburg County officials said they expected the Speedway to hold a 3-day testing event next weekend, with Bank of America Stadium to follow at the end of the month.

However, the planned mass vaccination drives will only take place if county supply permits. So far, the county is only averaging a few thousand vaccines with each supply shipment.

Back at the track, Walter explained the deadline of July 4 was not chosen by accident.

"Every goal should have a deadline. And this is one, we said, ‘We think we can reach this by July 4.’ And think about when we celebrate July 4, that we’re also celebrating that we’ve inoculated one million North Carolinians. That’s truly something to celebrate,” Walter says.

For the moment, North Carolina remains in Group 2 of vaccine distribution, which includes anyone in the general public ages 65 and older.

Also on Thursday, Novant Health announced it planned on opening six additional mass vaccination sites with community partners, which could include the Spectrum Center in Uptown.

Novant Health’s vaccine sites are also dependent on available supply, and further details are expected to be announced at a later date.

In a press release, Novant Health said it asked the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to increase its vaccine distribution amount to 95,000 doses a week.