As it has almost every day for a year, information on COVID-19 is constantly changing.

Here’s the latest.

On Tues., March 2, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that he would open up vaccine eligibility for all of North Carolina's frontline essential workers. This news comes a week earlier than expected, thanks to both a third approved vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, as well as an anticipated increase in the state’s vaccine supply. Newly eligible folks in Group 3 include those working in postal service, grocery stores, restaurants, law enforcement, agriculture + more.

On Tues., Gov. Cooper also discussed the expected timeline for launching Group 4 vaccinations — which includes people in certain congregate-living settings and those at greater risk from COVID-19 due to underlying medical conditions — which are slated to begin March 24.

Who’s currently eligible for a vaccine?

NC is currently vaccinating people in Groups 1, 2, 3, but Buncombe County’s waitlist did not open to Group 3 fully yesterday due to previously planned upgrades + surge testing based on the original eligibility date of March 10. Need a refresher on who belongs in which group? Check it out here. And if you’re not sure which group you belong in, you can find that out here.

By the numbers (as of Tues., March 2)

Buncombe County

New cases Monday: 38

Total number of cases: 15,585

Total number of deaths: 293

North Carolina

New cases Tuesday: 1,239

Total number of cases: 863,409

Total number of deaths: 11,288

Nation

28 million+ COVID-19 cases in the country

516,000+ COVID-19 deaths nationwide

Vaccines given

In Buncombe County: 28,572
North Carolina: 2,545,103
Statewide, 1,646,450 people have gotten at least one dose.
Almost 16% of folks in North Carolina have received at least one vaccine, while 8.5% of people have received both doses.
Nationwide, 78,631,601 doses have been given. That’s 15.6% of the US population.

What else do I need to know?

The Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services has resources to guide you through getting tested or vaccinated.

For state info, use this site + the CDC is your source for nationwide details.

Reminder: Both Buncombe County and the state of North Carolina are operating under a mask mandate.

Quick links:

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