Press Releases

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services yesterday released new data in the weekly respiratory surveillance report showing that unvaccinated people were 15.4 times, or 1,540 percent, more likely to die from COVID-19 during the four-week period ending Aug. 21, 2021. This comes as the state hit a pandemic high on Aug. 26 with 912 adults in the ICU with COVID-19. The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators also reached a record high at 574.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has launched TeenVaxFacts.com – a website dedicated to providing teens with the information, tools and resources they need to educate themselves, their friends and their family members about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which will Pfizer is calling Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older.

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge across North Carolina, the use of monoclonal antibodies for treatment of COVID-19 increased by 18-fold since late June from 100 administrations for the week of June 23 to 1,874 for the week of Aug. 11. Statewide, there are more than 130 sites offering monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 as this treatment can decrease the likelihood of hospitalization related to COVID-19.

Public health officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services are reporting a child died Friday after developing an illness caused by an amoeba that is naturally present in freshwater. The child became ill after swimming in a private pond on their residence in central North Carolina in early August. To protect the family’s privacy, no other identifying information will be released.

North Carolinians who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines can now begin receiving an additional dose to better protect themselves from COVID-19, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced today.

North Carolina providers have now administered more than 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with vaccinations trending upward as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus spreads through the state, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced today.

North Carolina experienced the largest single day jump in hospital ICU admissions since the beginning of the pandemic. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations among people ages 20-49 are at an all-time high.

North Carolinians who have home repair needs due to damage from Hurricane Florence in September 2018 may be eligible for financial assistance from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Economic Opportunity.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has selected two medical testing vendors with experience operating K-12 testing programs, MAKO Medical and Concentric by Ginkgo, that will be available to provide COVID-19 testing services to all North Carolina schools. In accordance with CDC guidance, K-12 schools are strongly encouraged to participate in the StrongSchoolsNC: K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program and require students, teachers and staff wear masks indoors in all K-12 schools.