HEALTH

Biden originally said there would be enough vaccine supply on-hand to inoculate the entire adult population by the end of July. "Through partnership with vaccine manufacturers and our efforts to ramp up its production, we will now have enough vaccine supply by the end of May," a statement by the administration said. 

"It's really too premature right now to be pulling back too much," said Fauci, who's come under the public eye since the start of the pandemic. "I'm concerned that we're still at that level of 70,000, and when people start then pulling back on mitigation methods and mitigation activities, you have the risk, and it is a real risk, of seeing it go back up, and it's not something I'm imagining. 

“I am very proud to once again partner with Novant Health to expand the Family Clinic model to bring better access to critical medical services in my hometown,” Jordan said in a statement. “Everyone should have access to quality health care, no matter where they live, or whether or not they have insurance.”

As of Thursday afternoon, 10,226 North Carolinians have died from the virus. A sobering total along with 811,000 cases in less than a year. About 8.9 percent of those cases were reported in Mecklenburg County. North Carolina is the fifteenth state to report over 10,000 deaths.

As of Friday, North Carolina was in the bottom half for vaccine distribution in the U.S. at No. 25. The efforts are a bit worse in South Carolina, who was ranked 33rd overall. West Virginia and North Dakota have set the standard in the country with 85 percent of vaccines distributed. 

Governor Roy Cooper addressed the state this afternoon with an update on Covid-19 in our state and further actions to be taken. Some speculated that Cooper was going to announce looser restrictions, following the action of other Governors. However, Governor Cooper did not loosen any of the current NC restrictions.

This weekend Atrium Health is hoping to administer over 16,000 vaccinations to people who are at least 65 years of age at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The speedway is the first of two mass vaccination sites, Bank of America Stadium will host a similar vaccination event in the near future.

Mecklenburg County Public Health will be opening additional Covid-19 vaccine appointments for the first 3 weeks of February based on anticipated vaccine supplies. Vaccines will still only be available to people in groups 1 and 2. Appointments will available for scheduling beginning Thursday January 21 at 8:30am.

"The vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel that will help us get back to life as we knew it," Charlotte Motor Speedway President Greg Walter said on Friday. And to be part of that is incredible. We do this all the time. we move people in and out."

North Carolina is now lowering the age of who can get the coronavirus vaccine. Governor Roy Cooper said Thursday that North Carolinians 65 and older will now be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine.