News Room

The much-awaited COVID-19 vaccine is going into arms around the world, and a second vaccine has been put into the arsenal. Now what? North Carolina's Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said “it’s going to be well into the spring” before vaccines are “widely available to folks.” In the meantime, the state reported on Friday it's highest single-day count of COVID-19 cases.

More than 7,000 cases were reported in Arizona today alone and as COVID-19 cases rise, so does the number of travelers at airports. This weekend alone TSA screened more than 3 million passengers, nationwide despite the alarming surge in cases. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Tucson Air Traffic Control towers are periodically closing due to staff members testing positive for COVID-19. Researchers believe airport screenings could be where the virus is spreading. “Security checkpoints are a small footprint of the large number of people congregating. It becomes a COVID-19 warzone,” said Sheldon Jacobson, a computer science professor at the University of Illinois.

Sherean Malekzadeh, who runs a marketing firm in Atlanta, hasn't been out to eat once since the pandemic was called in March. She skipped grocery stores for much of the year as well. Ordering online takes more time, "and you have to be on standby when the shoppers are there, in case they want to text you about missing items, but it makes me feel safer." Malekzadeh wasn't alone on that front. The pandemic changed our relationship with food in 2020. Online food ordering, from groceries and restaurants, was growing anyway, but this year it just got more popular faster. 

A new contact tracing mobile app called "WI Exposure Notification" is set to launch next week, giving Wisconsinites another tool to stop the spread of COVID-19. Gov. Tony Evers announced the app will go live Wednesday, Dec. 23. “We’re excited about this app’s potential to enhance our state’s response to COVID-19,” said Gov. Evers. “The voluntary WI Exposure Notification app is another tool in our toolbox to stop the spread. Because it lets you know faster if you’ve been in close contact with someone who’s tested positive, you can take steps to keep yourself safe and protect those around you. Also, the app doesn’t collect or use device location, so users will remain anonymous.”

The first of nearly six million doses of the second COVID-19 vaccine were packed in boxes and put on trucks at Moderna sites on Saturday, destined for McKesson distribution centers and delivery to California and 63 other states, territories and other jurisdictions. The operation, larger than last week’s Pfizer vaccine rollout, comes as the U.S. coronavirus death toll is climbing and experts fear that Americans will gather indoors for the holidays.