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North Carolina expands eligibility for monkeypox vaccine as cases rise

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has amended the criteria for who is eligible to receive a monkeypox vaccination. After looking at case data and examining current trends, officials believe the changes will protect more people in higher risk categories.

According to a news release, most cases in North Carolina occur with gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men. The latest eligibility criteria remove requirements that might have prevented residents in those categories from getting vaccinated. A full list of eligibility requirements is available on the NCDHHS website.

As of Thursday morning, 99% of reported cases in the state have been in men, and 68% have occurred with Black residents.

Officials say they’re working to remedy disparities in monkeypox cases and vaccination.

Cone Health has teamed up with the Triad Health Project for a vaccination clinic that will be held Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Higher Ground Day Center in Greensboro.  

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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