A Message from NCTracks on Behalf of NC Medicaid COVID-19 Update: Group Eligibility Accelerated Timeline; Healthier Together: Health Equity Action Network; Data Transparency; and National Recognition

Yesterday we announced an accelerated timeline for moving to Groups 4 and 5 for vaccine eligibility. The rest of Group 4 will be eligible on March 31 and all adults eligible beginning April 7. The move will allow the state and vaccine providers to continue to get vaccines into arms quickly and continue to reach underserved and historically marginalized populations.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) also announced a new public private partnership, Healthier Together: Health Equity Action Network, to enhance the state’s work to deliver equitable access to vaccines and released a new biweekly equity data report to provide another avenue for transparency. 

Accelerated Timeline

Beginning on March 31, additional essential workers and people living in other congregate settings such as student dormitories will be eligible for vaccination. Essential workers include frontline workers and workers who do not have to be in-person for work in an expanded range of sectors such as construction, energy, financial services, public works and others as categorized by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. A complete list is available in our Deeper Dive.

All North Carolinian adults 16 and older will be eligible to be vaccinated beginning on April 7.

Doubling Down on “Fast and Fair”

The accelerated timeline will allow the state to double down on its “fast and fair” approach to getting shots into arms. Healthier Together, a new public-private partnership with the NC Counts Coalition, will help increase the number of individuals from historically marginalized populations that receive COVID-19 vaccinations and provide a foundation for a longer-term framework for health equity.

Healthier Together will implement strategies to drive demand and increase access to vaccines to historically marginalized populations by conducting outreach and education efforts, coordinating local vaccine events at trusted and accessible locations, helping people schedule and get to vaccine appointments, providing on-site translation services and helping ensure people get to second dose appointments. 

Learn more about Healthier Together.

Data Transparency

Promoting COVID-19 Vaccine Equity in North Carolina reports the share of vaccinations in the past week going to Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx and American Indian or Alaskan Native populations as well as key metrics for earning trust, embedding equity in vaccine operations and promoting accountability through data transparency. The report also highlights best practices to promote equitable access to vaccinations. It will be updated every two weeks.  

National Recognition

North Carolina has been recognized nationally for its work to get COVID-19 vaccines to historically marginalized populations. North Carolina was named the only state to collect and publicly report race and ethnicity data for nearly 100% of vaccinations. According to the CDC, two-thirds of those vaccinated in North Carolina between Dec. 14, 2020 and March 1, 2021 were from “highly” or “moderately” vulnerable communities, ranking the state in the top ten for equitable vaccine coverage. North Carolina was also featured in Bloomberg News for its data-driven approach to reducing disparities in vaccination rates.

For accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines, visit YourSpotYourShot.nc.gov.