Vaccine

The virus that causes COVID-19 is again circulating more widely across North Carolina, and health experts are again urging people to make plans to get updated vaccine boosters.

A bill that passed the state House last week is named for 14-year-old Yulia Hicks. She was reportedly denied a kidney transplant at Duke Health because her family refused the vaccine.

Pediatricians and public health offices around North Carolina are getting doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week and say they are ready for parents to bring their little ones. State health officials encourage parents to vaccinate their children, saying the vaccine is safe and effective.

The Pfizer booster is the only brand currently available to children in this age range.

The military is taking a hard line on troops seeking religious exemptions to the COVID vaccine mandate. Lawyers say that could have consequences for others who seek different kinds of religious accommodations.

About half have been wasted because of leftover doses in an opened vial, and the other half because they reached an expiration date, according to data provided by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

North Carolina will have more than 400,000 doses of the low-dose Pfizer COVID-19 shot within the next week. The vaccine has been approved for emergency use in children ages 5 to 11.

North and South Carolina are among 26 states with an OSHA workplace safety plan that could require COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of public school districts. State officials are awaiting details.

COVID-19 has torn through the largely rural and racially-diverse community. In the past two weeks, 37 people have died from the disease. That represents more than 10% of those who have died from COVID-19 in the county since March of 2020.