FAYETTEVILLE – Sept. 30, 2021 – Beginning Friday, Oct. 1., the Cape Fear Valley Health Pavilion North (HPN) ExpressCare will be temporarily closed to all non-vaccination clinic visits. Other services in the facility, such as the Cancer Center, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, and Health Pavilion North Family Care will remain open. Cape Fear Valley Health’s other ExpressCare locations – inside Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital and at Bladen County Hospital in Elizabethtown – remain open.
Vice President of Pharmacy and the Cancer Center Christopher Tart said the clinic closure is in response to the high demand for COVID-19 vaccine boosters at this vaccine clinic location.
“We saw more than 400 people come to this location for their booster shots on Tuesday,” Tart said. “We want to be able to provide these boosters to the community as quickly and efficiently as possible. Switching over to an all-vaccination operation at this location will allow us to do that.”
The COVID-19 vaccine clinic at HPN will now be open for appointments from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Previously, it opened at 9 a.m. The two additional hours, as well as shifting the rest of the clinic to focus on vaccinations, will allow the clinic to more than triple its capacity for vaccine appointments.
Appointments at this and all other Cape Fear Valley COVID-19 vaccination clinics can be made online at https://www.capefearvalley.com/coronavirus/index.aspx . Locations and hours for all Cape Fear Valley Health vaccine clinics are also on this website. Although appointments are preferred, walk-ins are accepted until clinic capacity is reached.
An announcement will be made when the ExpressCare at this location plans to reopen.
About the COVID-19 vaccine booster and third doses
Individuals who are eligible for boosters include the following:
- Those who are 65 years old or older.
- Those who are residents in long-term care settings.
- Those who are ages 50 to 64 with certain underlying medical conditions*.
- Those who are ages 18 to 49 who are at high risk for severe COVID-19 due to certain underlying medical conditions.
- Those who are ages 18 to 64 who are at an increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting.
All individuals must be at least six months past their completion of the first Pfizer two-dose series. Currently, only the Pfizer vaccine has an approved booster dose. Individuals who received Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine can only receive a third shot if they are immunocompromised. At this time, there is no approved booster for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. The Pfizer booster is not approved for those under 18 years of age.
* Qualifying underlying medical conditions include:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic lung disease, including COPD asthma
- Dementia and other neurological conditions
- Diabetes
- Down syndrome
- Heart conditions including heart failure, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease
- HIV
- Liver disease
- Overweight or obese
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Smoking, current or former
- Transplant
Cape Fear Valley Health's COVID-19 vaccine clinics are also offering third-dose shots for immunocompromised individuals. Individuals must self-attest that they are immunocompromised. These additional third-dose shots are only for people who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Information on how to provide additional shots for patients who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not yet available. While it is preferred that patients receive a booster that matches their initial two doses, it is possible to mix the vaccine series between the two mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderns).
Immunocompromised patients must be at least 28 days post their second dose to receive their third dose. Immunocompromised individuals should not receive both their third shot and another booster shot at this time.