Press Releases

With COVID-19 cases reaching pandemic highs, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services urges K-12 schools to promote vaccination and boosters for students and staff and require students and staff wear masks indoors to keep students in the classroom and limit the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday announced it recommends the Pfizer COVID-19 booster for children ages 12 to 15 to further protect them from COVID-19. The CDC also recommends a third dose of Pfizer for children ages 5 to 11 who have compromised immune systems. In addition, the wait time for boosters for anyone who received Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations has been reduced from six months to five months. People who received two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine should receive their booster in six months. People who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should receive their booster two months after their vaccination.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced it will issue the first round of Student Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer benefits next week for students eligible between the months of September and November 2021.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging eligible North Carolinians to see if they are eligible for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program or the Crisis Intervention Program if they need assistance with heating bills.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program will expand to include all low-income households needing assistance in paying their water bill.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported on its COVID-19 dashboard today the highest one-day number of COVID-19 cases. NCDHHS is closely monitoring hospital capacity and is urging North Carolinians to gather safely, get vaccinated and boosted, and wear a mask indoors in public places.

With hospitalizations due to COVID-19 rising, getting a booster of the COVID-19 vaccine remains the most important thing North Carolinians can do to keep themselves and their loved ones out of the hospital, officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced.

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. today issued the below Secretarial Advisory, urging the following actions to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

Health experts are warning that the highly contagious COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is expected to cause the greatest surge in COVID-19 infections to date in the coming months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services urge people to get vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) as soon as possible and to get a booster as soon as they are eligible to help prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death.

Programs that provide overdose prevention and syringe access are serving more people and potentially saving more lives, according to the 2020-2021 North Carolina Safer Syringe Initiative Annual Report released by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.