Press Releases

More than 175,000 people currently living in North Carolina have been diagnosed with chronic viral hepatitis, and many more may have hepatitis but do not realize they are infected. To address this important health issue, Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed May as Hepatitis Awareness Month and May 19 as Hepatitis Testing Day.

North Carolina leaders, including Governor Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. will take the virtual stage at the 2021 Opioid Misuse and Overdose Prevention Summit on May 4-6, 2021. Hundreds of national, state and local community leaders are coming together to discuss the integral role North Carolina’s communities play in prevention and response efforts across the state.

The federally supported COVID-19 Community Vaccination Center in Greensboro at Four Seasons Town Centre today began offering the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is available in addition to the two-dose Pfizer vaccine already offered.

As the weather continues to warm up, state health officials urge North Carolinians to “Fight the Bite” by taking measures to reduce their risk of tick- and mosquito-borne infections. Preliminary data generated by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health indicate that in 2020, there were 957 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of tick-borne diseases in North Carolina and 46 cases of domestically acquired and travel-associated mosquito-borne diseases.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Aging and Adult Services is partnering with the N.C. Area Agencies on Aging and local service providers to distribute fans to eligible recipients through Operation Fan Heat Relief May 1–Oct. 31.

As of April 27, 2021, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the NC Department of Public Instruction has provided more than $1 billion of groceries to more than a million children impacted by school closings during the pandemic. North Carolina was one of the first four states to receive federal approval of the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program when it launched.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced it is expanding eligibility for food assistance benefits to help college students who are struggling to purchase food and stay in school during the pandemic.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Health Service Regulation today announced it has made a new temporary pathway available for individuals who worked in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic as temporary nurse aides to be listed on the Nurse Aide I Registry.

Following a thorough safety review, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have confidence that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19 and recommend its continued use to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is recommending that providers in the state resume administration of the vaccine now that the CDC and FDA have reaffirmed its safety.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the Bringing Summer Back get-out-the-vaccine campaign that will engage community organizations across the state to fully vaccinate as many people as possible by summer.