COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on March 11
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Case count tops 879,000
At least 879,825 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 11,622 have died since last March, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,061 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, up from 1,861 the day before.
Twenty-seven coronavirus-related deaths were reported Thursday. Deaths don’t all occur on the day the state reports them. The state health department revises its daily figures as information becomes available.
At least 1,039 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Thursday, down from 1,083 reported the day before. It’s the first time since October that hospitalizations have been under 1,100.
As of Tuesday, the latest day for which data are available, 3.8% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Health officials have said 5% or lower is the target rate to control the spread of the virus.
More than 3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in North Carolina, and at least 1.2 million people have received both doses.
NC spends $1.7B more in COVID relief
Gov. Roy Cooper signed a $1.7 billion COVID-19 relief bill into law on Thursday — the second spending bill passed by state legislators this year and the fourth since the pandemic began last March.
The bill was fast-tracked in the General Assembly over just a few days, The News & Observer reported.
It includes $292 million for higher education emergency relief, $12 million for emergency food assistance, $603 million for coronavirus testing and tracing, and $40 million for summer learning programs.
“While I will ask legislators to revisit some areas of this legislation, including changes necessary to quickly deliver rental assistance, these funds will bring needed relief for people who are struggling, schools and small businesses as we strive to emerge from this pandemic,” Cooper said in a statement.
Full passenger train service will resume
Passenger trains in North Carolina will begin running at full schedule again starting April 5.
That means Amtrak will resume a third daily round trip of the Piedmont train between Raleigh and Charlotte, The News & Observer reported. Transportation officials canceled two of the three round trips when the pandemic started last March, and the third was suspended in May.
But the state restored some service as demand rebounded, including resuming one daily round-trip of the Piedmont in August and adding a second in December. Though ridership is about half of where it was before the pandemic, it increased about 50% between September and the end of February, according to The N&O.
“The data on ridership is trending up,” said Jason Orthner, director of NCDOT’s Rail Division. “All the numbers, all the trends, look good for bringing back the service on April 5.”
People with high-risk medical conditions move up vaccine list
People with underlying health conditions that leave them at high risk from COVID-19 will be eligible for the vaccine a week early, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Thursday.
Those individuals are in Group 4, along with those living in close group settings and essential workers who don’t meet the criteria of a front-line worker. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the group totals as many as 4.1 million people.
Group 4 was initially scheduled to begin getting the coronavirus vaccine on March 24, The News & Observer reported.
Now people with underlying health conditions, homeless people or those living in group settings will be eligible on March 17. Other essential workers will be eligible beginning April 7.
In Charlotte, health officials caution it could be difficult to get a vaccine on March 17 given the limited vaccine supply and lengthy wait lists, The Charlotte Observer reported. Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said they are still immunizing people in the “very large” Group 3
“Obviously Group 3 hasn’t been opened for long ... We’re doing our best to stay focused on that right, but we are going to do everything we can — working with our healthcare partners, as well as the other vaccinators in our community — to make it available to Group 4 as quickly as we can,” she said.
NC State plans in-person graduation
N.C. State University will host an in-person graduation ceremony at Carter-Finley Stadium this spring.
Officials announced Thursday the school will host two outdoor commencement ceremonies, echoing similar plans from UNC Chapel Hill and Duke.
“We understand how difficult the past year has been for so many in the Wolfpack community, including our graduates and their families,” Chancellor Randy Woodson said in a community-wide message. “We are proud of how hard our students have worked to push through the challenges and continue making progress toward their degrees.”
Graduation speakers haven’t been decided, The News & Observer reported, and most departments will hold their graduation ceremonies virtually.
Wake schools report COVID clusters
Two schools in Wake County have reported coronavirus clusters, including 29 cases at a private school.
There have been 24 cases among students and five cases among staff at Cary Christian School, according to state health officials.
Though not on the latest DHHS report of ongoing clusters at child care centers and schools, Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina notified families on Tuesday of an active cluster. Health officials define a cluster as five or more linked cases in the same facility within 14 days, The News & Observer reported.
There have been eight COVID-19 cases at Lincoln Heights, including six among students and two among staff, since Feb. 26.
COVID may have been ‘guise’ in Wake gun permit delay, judge says
A federal judge wrote a North Carolina sheriff may have used COVID-19 to hide that his office couldn’t process the volume of gun permit applications that came in last year.
U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan listed the possibility in a Feb. 20 court order that said a lawsuit against Sheriff Gerald Baker could proceed.
“Based on the allegations in the complaint, it is plausible to infer that defendant suspended acceptance of applications due to inability to process a high volume of applicants at a time of acute public need, under the guise of generally articulated ‘public health concerns,’” Flanagan wrote, according to The News & Observer.
In March 2020, Baker announced his office was suspending gun permit applications for 38 days due to increased interest and concerns that lines wouldn’t allow for social distancing.
Days later, several groups and Wake County resident Kelly Stafford sued Baker and said the suspension violated constitutional rights. Lawyers for the groups and a sheriff’s office spokesperson didn’t respond to request for comment on Wednesday.
Duke basketball leaves ACC tournament
The Duke University men’s basketball team said it was leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament due to the coronavirus.
The Blue Devils won’t play against Florida State University on Thursday after a positive test within the men’s basketball program and contact tracing would make several players unavailable.
The team pulled out of the tournament after Duke on Wednesday threatened to start a curfew, restrict campus access and cancel face-to-face classes after reporting spikes in coronavirus cases.
In an email to students and parents, the university said it could take the measures if the COVID-19 situation doesn’t improve.
Duke has reported more than 100 student coronavirus cases since Friday. Most of those cases are tied to off-campus Greek life events, including parties and fraternity rush activities, according to the school.
The university said its Office of Conduct and Community Standards and authorities are investigating the incidents.
UNC Health changes strategy for vaccine appointments
UNC Health changed the way it schedules COVID-19 vaccine appointments after notcing that some people traveled to get vaccinations in counties where they do not live.
For example, people from the Raleigh area traveled more than 80 miles to a vaccination site in Lenoir County. Triangle residents made up 70% of the people who received the first shots, while Lenoir residents made up 10%.
“We pulled the data and could immediately see that, ‘Houston, we had a problem’ with who was getting the vaccine that the state had allocated to Lenoir hospital,” said Dr. Lynne Fiscus, president and CEO of the UNC Physicians Network.
UNC Health said it changed its strategy, now allowing local residents to more easily schedule appointments and contacting community members to invite them to get vaccinated. They’ve seen a turnaround, with more than 86% of Lenoir County residents now receiving vaccine appointments there by February, The News & Observer reported.
Merck plant will make Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Merck’s plant in Durham will receive $105.4 million from the federal government to produce Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, the pharmaceutical company confirmed Wednesday.
Under the terms of a contract finalized March 1, the funding will go to the “repair or alteration of production buildings” as well as the manufacturing of a biological product, The News & Observer reported.
The deal was signed one day before President Joe Biden announced Merck would help produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The White House announced two Merck plants would be responsible for production — one for manufacturing and the other to “fill and finish.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has called the $105 million an “initial investment” that will be used to “convert, upgrade, and equip Merck facilities,” according to The N&O.
NC State plans ‘normal fall 2021 semester’
Chancellor Randy Woodson at N.C. State University announced Wednesday students will be back in classrooms and living in dorms for “a normal fall 2021 semester.”
That means full occupancy in residence halls, face-to-face instruction and normal operating hours at campus dining facilities, libraries, recreation centers and other facilities, The News & Observer reported.
The announcement comes as college campuses statewide have reported few spikes or clusters of cornavirus cases. Woodson also noted the number of COVID-19 cases in Raleigh and statewide have fallen in recent weeks as officials move forward with the vaccine rollout.
9.1 million North Carolinians will get federal stimulus money
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Wednesday that’s expected to hit President Joe Biden’s desk Friday.
Under the bill, as many as 9.1 million North Carolina residents will receive some federal economic stimulus checks, The News & Observer reported. The money could show up in people’s bank accounts before the end of March.
Families of four could receive up to $5,600, while individuals earning less than $75,000 will receive $1,400. Heads of households earning less than $112,500 and joint filers earning less than $150,000 will also qualify.
The bill also includes a revamped child tax credit, additional money for states that expand Medicaid and $350 billion for state and local governments.
A breakdown of how much individual cities and counties in North Carolina are expected to receive can be found here.
NC’s largest vaccine site opens in Greensboro
North Carolina’s largest coronavirus vaccination site kicked off Wednesday in a former department store space in Greensboro.
The site is expected to vaccinate up to 3,000 people a day. Sharron Mabry, who drove from Raleigh, called it “a well-oiled machine.”
“It’s the frickin’ Air Force,” she told The News & Observer. “I’m a wedding planner, and I’m all about the logistics. I don’t mind the drive. It’s just gas in the car. They make it easy-breezy.”
The site operates 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with the help of more than 100 state and federal workers. It has the capacity to vaccinate up to 20,000 people over the next two months.
Cooper, legislature reach deal to reopen schools
Republicans in the North Carolina legislature came to a compromise with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on a deal that would allow schools to have daily, in-person instruction.
Cooper joined Phil Berger, Republican leader of the state Senate, to announce the agreement Wednesday.
The compromise calls for requiring elementary schools to reopen under Plan A with full-time learning inside classrooms. Middle and high school students could open under Plans A or B, which has increased social distancing.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 7:34 AM.
