News Room

In March 2020, the World Health Organization gave the solution to reducing the impacts of the pandemic in the short term: tests, tests — and more tests. Universities have taken this to heart. Many large state universities have set up testing labs to be able to conduct surveillance testing on campus. N.C. State has joined other institutions in this including Georgia Tech, Penn State, Purdue University, and many more. Recent “gateway” testing on the campuses of Georgia Tech and N.C. State identified about 400 cases on each campus, many of whom were asymptomatic at the time of the test. The individuals testing positive were quarantined from others, and next week surveillance testing will be done again.

Las week on Sunday, some health workers experienced challenges with the vaccine registration system. They then decided to go directly, without registering, to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital to get their jab, which reportedly led to chaos that involved long queues and resulted in some who had successfully registered on the system being unable to get their jab and being turned away. South Africa is not alone in experiencing teething problems with vaccination systems. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined the need for a system that could handle a mass vaccination campaign once shots were approved. It wanted to streamline sign-ups, scheduling, inventory tracking, and immunization reporting.

Scott Simon, Host: More than 250 employees at meatpacking plants across the country have died of COVID-19. Congress is investigating the outbreaks, and companies are trying to stem the coronavirus infections. In North Carolina, one large Tyson Foods poultry plant is making some workplace changes. Keri Brown of member station WFDD has this report.

Keri Brown, Byline: The Tyson complex is nestled in the center of Wilkesboro. It's a massive facility employing around 3,000 people. That's a lot for this small rural community. The town manager of Wilkesboro, Ken Noland, says it's a challenging time for both the region and Tyson.

As the Biden administration works to accelerate the U.S. coronavirus vaccine rollout, it could soon have a new tool: A single-dose vaccine that can survive up to three months in an ordinary refrigerator. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson released data on January 29 showing that its single-dose version provided strong protection against COVID-19. On February 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released an analysis of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine confirming that it is safe and effective, and on February 26 a review committee within the agency recommended that the FDA authorize the shot for emergency use.

Millions of Americans are not getting their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine within the recommended time period for ensuring optimal protection from COVID-19, according to a CBS MoneyWatch review of the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Wednesday, just over 2.8 million Americans who had received their first shot — nearly 12% of those vaccinated — had not gotten their second dose within the 28-day interval prescribed for Moderna’s vaccine, one of two approved for use in the U.S. The other vaccine, jointly produced by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, is supposed to be administered 21 days after getting a first dose.