University of North Carolina System President Peter Hans will overhaul the standards for creating new degree programs. Campuses will now weigh the public interest when adding the programs — and decide whether the degrees help students find work and repay their debt.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has expanded its vaccine data dashboard to provide information about vaccine doses promised to and received by the state. Users also will be able to see the percent of doses received that have been administered. Today’s dashboard shows 95% of all first doses have been reported as being administered and 812,586 total doses have been administered.
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reporting the first identification in a North Carolina resident of the COVID-19 variant called B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the United Kingdom in December. The B.1.1.7 variant was identified in a sample from an adult in Mecklenburg County processed by Mako Medical Laboratories. To protect the privacy of the individual, no further information will be released.
Around 1,000 of the 1,300 vaccines allocated for the prison system this week have arrived, and the rest of the week’s allocation is expected to arrive and be distributed within days. This week’s allocation is the Moderna vaccine.
Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen visited a large-scale vaccine site at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Friday Conference Center to witness health care workers and North Carolinians over age 65 receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced today that vaccine providers that are ready to expand may vaccinate all health care workers and anyone 65 years and older.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is partnering with health systems, local health departments and community health centers across the state to host large community vaccine events for people currently eligible to be vaccinated. More than 45,000 vaccines are expected to be given through these events.
Transmission of the COVID-19 virus has been “extremely limited” in public schools that have reopened in North Carolina, a team of researchers from Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill have found.
On Jan. 1, 2021, North Carolina reported its highest one-day number of COVID-19 cases with 9,527 new cases reported, exceeding the state’s previous highest day set on Dec. 18, 2020 by more than 1,000. Cases remained high today, Jan. 2, with 9,356 new cases reported.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced it had updated its vaccination plan to align with new federal recommendations issued last week. The changes simplify the vaccine process and continue the state’s commitment to first protect health care workers caring for patients with COVID-19, people who are at the highest risk of being hospitalized or dying, and those at high risk of exposure to COVID-19.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recently received approval to use federal matching funds to expand services for the evidence-based early childhood program, Reach Out and Read. Research shows that children who Reach Out and Read have improved literacy and language comprehension, and clinics have improved patient-clinician relationships and well-child visit attendance. This partnership with Reach Out and Read is one of the first in the country among Medicaid programs.
Lawmakers are fighting to help small businesses afford health insurance, but they’re running out of time. As the pandemic and the shutdowns wreck the economy, thousands of North Carolinians continue to lose their insurance. North Carolina has nearly 1.2 million uninsured residents.
