Press Releases

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching an expanded COVID-19 screening testing program to support public, charter and private K-12 schools in protecting students and staff from the spread of COVID-19. The program will launch in fall 2021 and schools can register to participate beginning in early July.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced more than 80% of adults 65 and older in the state have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced North Carolina has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) food assistance program through Summer 2021. The P-EBT program helps families with eligible children whose access to free or reduced-price meals at school or other food assistance has been impacted by COVID-19. Summer P-EBT is an extension of benefits for the 2020-2021 school year.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new public campaign encouraging North Carolinians to "Vax Up or Mask Up” to support the new guidance that lifts many of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.

A new tool created by the NC Department of Health and Human Services that maps social vulnerability and vaccination rates by census tract has helped North Carolina vaccine providers increase vaccinations by 50 percent in 89 underserved communities.

As part of its ongoing effort to get more North Carolinians vaccinated and safely bring summer back, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is offering $25 Summer Cash Cards at select vaccine sites to offset the time and transportation costs of getting vaccinated.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today expanded its NC COVID-19 Dashboard to include a new metric – wastewater monitoring. Since January 2021, NCDHHS has been testing wastewater samples to look for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as part of the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System. This new statewide program, known as the North Carolina Wastewater Monitoring Network, is a collaboration between 11 wastewater utilities, 8 local public health departments and researchers at the University of North Carolina.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat for rural communities on COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, May 25, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the NC Department of Public Instruction, announced today the expansion of the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer  program to provide benefits to eligible children under the age of 6 who are in households receiving Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). This expansion will provide benefits to families with young children and infants who need extra help buying food. The state will begin issuing P-EBT benefits to eligible children under the age of 6 starting this week.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging North Carolinians in the triangle area who are not yet vaccinated to attend the family-friendly, COVID-19 vaccination event – Bringing Back Summer “Vaccine on the Green” – on the Dorothea Dix Campus in Raleigh, Friday, May 21, through Sunday, May 23.