On Saturday, the CDC announced that schools in the United States should continue enforcing COVID-19 safety measures through the end of the 2020-2021 school year
For the second day in a row, North Carolina has seen its number of new COVID-19 cases drop nearly to lows not seen in a year.
The state Department of Health and Human Services reported Tuesday 622 new cases statewide on Monday, down from 688 on Sunday, 864 on Saturday and 1,066 on Friday.
Mondayâs daily case count is the lowest since 431 on Aug. 17, although a data-gathering glitch caused that number to be artificially low. Before that, North Carolina had not seen a lower daily number of new cases since May 27, when 488 were reported.
Hannah Bovender, 14, speaks about being one of the first in her age group to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Ruth Santiago squeezed her eyes shut and looked away as a syringe loaded with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine plunged into her right arm.
Did it hurt?
âAt first,â Ruth said.
But that millisecond of pain was worth it for the seventh-grader at Philo-Hill Middle School. Her grandparents in Mexico got sick a few days ago, and Ruth is worried that they may have contracted the coronavirus. Helping to keep older folks, such as her grandparents, safe from COVID-19 convinced Ruth to be among the first in the 12-15 age group to get the Pfizer vaccine.
What parents need to know about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12-15
Pfizer vaccine for kids age 12-15 By Caroline Hicks | May 7, 2021 at 5:23 PM EDT - Updated May 7 at 5:50 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The FDA and a CDC advisory committee are meeting next week to potentially give Emergency Use Authorization to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15.
This also comes as the company applies for FDA approval of its vaccine for ages 16 and older, which is currently being administered under Emergency Use Authorization.
Atrium and Novant Health are working through plans to provide the shot to the expanded age group as soon as possible once it is authorized next week.
NC resumes administering J&J vaccine: Here’s what you need to know Tina Terry
U.S. health officials lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory board met Friday and recommended lifting the pause.
The decision comes 10 days after the agency along with the Federal Drug Administration recommended that the vaccine be paused to investigate its possible link to rare blood clots. According to the CDC, there have been fifteen cases of blood clots out of the 7.9 million doses administered, which is more than double the six cases initially reported.
The single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is available again after two federal agencies decided Friday to end an 11-day pause.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration added a warning label about the potential for rare blood clots with the J&J vaccine.
The vaccine had been used in more than 6.8 million Americans before the pause, included 253,338 in North Carolina as of Friday.
The FDA and CDC said in a joint statement that they âhave confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19.â
Local and state health officials said this week that the fate of the J&J vaccine might play a major role in whether North Carolina can reach COVID-19 herd immunity levels by the June 1 goal set by Gov. Roy Cooper.