As clinical leaders of Children’s hospitals in the North Carolina Triangle region, we are here to advance and protect child health. We are alarmed by the sharp rise in case numbers of COVID-19 positivity, infection, and hospitalizations in children. Hospitalizations of children due to COVID have increased over 4-fold in the past month. The known risk of not having a vaccine available to children has become undeniable. The myth that this pandemic has minimal effects on children compared to adults has shifted dramatically in the last month. This calls for additional action toward making a vaccine available to all children and support for all school-aged children to follow the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and ABC Collaborative recommending children wear masks in school and utilize social distancing. We are encouraged by the recent data demonstrating both safety and efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine in children as young as 5 years and hope that the remaining reviews and recommendations for distribution will be expedient.

Spreading misinformation during this time of a public health crisis regarding vaccines goes against the overwhelming information about safety and efficacy of the vaccine’s ability to protect from severe infections and hospitalizations.

With such a powerful tool to prevent disease safely and effectively at our fingertips, we must avoid further delay of its use for the youngest members of our society, whose lives remain disrupted and whose health remains at risk due to this pandemic virus. Together, we can safely bring these remarkable disease-preventing vaccine innovations to children.

We encourage you to watch the webinar, prepared by our UNC colleagues, to provide parents, families, and providers with pertinent background on aerosols, masks, and easy ways to improve mask fit, especially in kids.  In addition to the webinar, check out the presentation slides with notes, and a handout that can be distributed to help parents adjust their kids’ mask for a better fit and better protection.

With guidance from leadership we have decided that at this time we will not be taking any action to purposefully phase in employees [beyond those laid out in the Phases from the state]. An important part of our dynamic situation is the need to assure that we use as much as possible of our initial … Read more

COVID-19 Vaccinations: Guidance for Managers As we prepare to begin providing COVID-19 vaccinations, we need your help to guide your staff through the process. Please review the information below and send any questions to COVID-19@unchealth.unc.edu. Managers Should Reinforce the Following Key Points: The vaccine will be available first to healthcare personnel at high risk of … Read more

UNC Health’s Guiding Principles for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution UNC Health expects to receive our initial supply of COVID-19 vaccine in the next few days. If we do not have enough vaccine initially for all co-workers who choose to receive it, we plan to use the following guiding principles and a phased approach to guide vaccine … Read more

From: COVID-19 News <COVID-19@unchealth.unc.edu> Sent: Friday, December 11, 2020 11:10 PM Subject: You have been Identified by UNC Health in Phase 1A to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine: Follow These Steps You have been Identified by UNC Health to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine in Phase 1A: Follow These Steps | UNC Health le ha identificado en … Read more

Recipient Upload to DHHS Our full list of identified Phase 1A Recipients has been sent to DHHS; we are uncertain exactly when they will conduct the mass upload that will begin triggering emails to our colleagues, but those should begin to be delivered sometime this weekend. Internal Communications In the meantime, our Communications Team has … Read more

We appreciate your patience as we navigate this complicated and evolving process. Many of you have questions about your status on the 1a vaccination list: For people that received a 1A e-mail that were not on your departmental 1A list If you received a 1A priority e-mail but work in a low-risk area, please delay … Read more

  As we begin to vaccinate our co-workers against COVID-19, we need your help to guide your teams through the process.If you have co-workers who have been identified as 1A Co-workers should discuss with their managers if they think they should be included/excluded from the initial distribution.  If you received a Phase 1A invitation email, … Read more

The following message was shared with co-workers earlier this afternoon at UNC Medical Center, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Faculty Physicians. It has been included here as an FYI. For staff – please coordinate with your supervisor on taking time off to get a vaccine Steps to Schedule Your Shot: COVID-19 Vaccination  UNC Health … Read more