The Wilkes County Health Department has announced a schedule of Pfizer vaccination clinics at public high schools as part of an effort to get more young people vaccinated before the 2021-22 school year starts.

The Wilkes County Health Department is continuing an emphasis on vaccinating people for COVID-19 at churches, parks, events and other sites as part of a strategy of making it more convenient, said Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard.

Tyson Foods Inc. said one of its first seven “Bright Blue” health centers, designed to provide Tyson employees and their families easier access to quality healthcare, opens May 19 at 1600 River Street in Wilkesboro.

By Friday, 6,618 Wilkes residents had been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported that 21.7% (14,857 people) of Wilkes residents were fully vaccinated for COVID-19 as of Monday.

Wilkes Health Department Director Rachel Willard said Friday that Wilkes County’s response to COVID-19 vaccinations remains at best at a plateau, prompting consideration of ending her department’s drive-through vaccination clinics.

Wilkes County Health Director Rachel Willard said COVID-19 vaccinations in Wilkes have leveled off, despite the local health department’s decision to make them available to everyone age 16 and older about two weeks ago.

COVID-19 vaccinations will be available by appointment at Celebration Church on Boone Trail, North Wilkesboro, on Friday through a partnership with Boone Drugs Inc.

Plans for drive-through COVID-19 vaccination clinics at the four Wilkes County middle schools for all eligible people were announced Tuesday by Wilkes Health Department Director Rachel Willard.

Wilkes was among counties with the least (yellow) of three levels of community spread of COVID-19 in the latest County Alert System update for the virus, released Feb. 22.

COVID-19 vaccine will be available this week to all child care center and pre-K to 12th-grade personnel in Wilkes County who indicated they want it, said Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard.

The Wilkes County Health Department announced that due to inclement weather and safety concerns, the COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Friday, Feb. 19 at Lowe’s Park at River Edge will start at noon instead of 10 a.m.

A Wilkes Health Department COVID-19 first dose vaccination clinic that was moved from Thursday to Saturday due to expected inclement weather is canceled due to weather-related vaccine shipment delays statewide and nationwide, announced the health department Wednesday morning.

The Wilkes County Health Department has received extra manpower for its COVID-19 vaccine program after being flooded by people wanting vaccination appointments and apparently will get more.

The first meeting of a Wilkes County COVID-19 task force authorized by the Wilkes County commissioners and held Friday focused largely on how to encourage wearing facial masks and support the COVID-19 vaccination process locally.

The Wilkes County Health Department expects to have enough Moderna vaccine for administering over 1,100 first or second doses late this week, said Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard.

The Wilkes County Health Department is scheduling appointments for administering 300 first doses of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 on Thursday, Jan. 28.

The Wilkes County Health Department received an additional 600 doses of the Moderna vaccine from Wilkes Medical Center today (Thursday) and is making them available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis today and Friday, announced Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard late this morning.

First doses of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 will be available by appointment in a Wilkes Health Department drive-through clinic Thursday starting at 10 a.m. at Lowe's Park at River’s Edge, said Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard.

UPDATE: The Wilkes Health Department is getting 800 doses of the Moderna vaccine this week instead of the 200 originally announced due to Wake Forest Baptist Health deciding to let the health department have 600 doses that Wilkes Medical Center received Wednesday, said Wilkes Health Director…

The Wilkes County Schools have had 442 confirmed COVID-19 cases since Sept. 8, when all Wilkes elementary, middle and high schools transitioned from full-time remote learning to optional half-time remote and half-time in-person learning (A/B plan).

The Wilkes County Health Department is getting 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week and will resume vaccination clinics then, said Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard.

The Wilkes County Health Department’s COVID-19 drive-through vaccination clinics will be moved from the department’s rear parking lot on College Street, Wilkesboro, to Industrial Drive (old airport runway) at Lowe’s Park at River’s Edge next week, said Wilkes Health Director Rachel Willard o…

Editor's Note: The COVID-19-related deaths of 72 Wilkes County residents were reported by the end of 2020.

About 40% of North Carolina residents responding to an Elon University Poll said they’ll take a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the FDA, nearly an equal number said “it depends” and the other 20% said they’ll decline.

The Wilkes Health Department reported three more COVID-19-related deaths of Wilkes residents Thursday, bringing the total reported so far this month to 11 and the total for the pandemic to 62.

The Wilkes County Health Department is reporting two more COVID-19-related deaths Wednesday, bringing the county’s COVID-19 death total to 59.

The Wilkes County Schools announced Wednesday, Dec. 9, that because of challenges with staffing due to COVID-19-related isolation, C.C. Wright Elementary School will operate 100 percent remotely Thursday, Dec. 10 and Friday, Dec. 11.

RALEIGH — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper unveiled a modified stay-at-home order on Dec. 8 that requires the state’s roughly 10.5 million residents to stay off the roads between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The Wilkes Health Department has adopted new recommendations for the duration of COVID-19-related quarantine as a result of new guidance adopted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

RALEIGH (AP) — Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday afternoon that North Carolina will soon receive about 85,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government.

As of Tuesday, Wilkes County no longer ranked among the top 10 North Carolina counties in new cases per 100,000 people for the prior two weeks.

The Wilkes Community College Foundation is publicizing Giving Tuesday (Dec. 1) as an opportunity for making donations to address increased financial needs of WCC students.

The Wilkes County Health Department issued a statement Wednesday with advice on COVID-19-related precautions for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Five COVID-19-related deaths of Wilkes County residents were reported in the seven days ending Tuesday, the most reported in the county in one week.

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a new executive order Monday tightening mask requirements as COVID-19 cases continue to rapidly rise in North Carolina and across the country.

Wilkes and other rural counties are leading North Carolina’s COVID-19 case growth per 100,000 people as the virus continues to surge across the state and nation, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

The number of Wilkes County residents with COVID-19 who are hospitalized increased from a record 19 on Friday to a new record of 22 on Tuesday, the Wilkes Health Department reported.

The Wilkes County Health Department reported Friday that 19 Wilkes residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, the most yet for the county.

The Wilkes County Health Department reported the COVID-19-related deaths of three Wilkes residents Monday, bringing the county’s pandemic mortality total to 41.