COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on June 12

We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in North Carolina. Check back for updates.

More than 420 new cases reported

At least 1,007,698 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 13,265 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 425 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down from 464 reported the day before.

Nineteen additional deaths were also reported. Deaths don’t necessarily occur on the day the state reports them. The state health department revises its daily figures as information becomes available.

At least 535 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Friday.

As of Friday, 1.6% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Health officials say 5% or lower is the target rate to slow the spread of the virus.

Roughly 54% of adults in North Carolina have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and about 50% were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, the latest date for which data is available. The state health department rounds vaccination numbers to the nearest whole number.

Cooper extends executive order

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a new executive order Friday extending the previous order until the end of July.

The previous order, which requires masks in at-risk settings such as public schools, health care facilities and prisons, was set to expire at 5 p.m. Friday, The News & Observer reported.

North Carolina has been under a state of emergency order since March 2020. Cooper said Thursday that order allows the state to waive certain regulations and receive federal funding to help with distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It’s an important part of getting this pandemic behind us,” he said.

Health workers go door-to-door promoting vaccine

The number of people vaccinated in North Carolina is divided along economic lines with wealthier areas more likely to have higher vaccination rates, according to a News & Observer analysis.

“If I have other pressing priorities because I am living at the lower end of the income scale and I’m managing to make ends meet, it’s hard for me to navigate those economic circumstances and add one more thing onto my plate – like getting a vaccine,” N.C. DHHS Chief Deputy Secretary Kody Kinsley said.

Kinsey said the state has moved past individuals who want to get vaccinated and arrived at the “vaccine resource-constrained.”

Public health workers say the mass vaccination model doesn’t work for lower-income areas, where they’re now going door-to-door trying to get as many doses of the vaccine into arms as possible. Local health departments also hosting events at major employers and trying to meet people where they are likely to go.

“We’re just trying to eliminate every barrier that we can to make the vaccine as accessible as possible,” nurse practitioner Erin Smith told The N&O. “That’s what these outreach clinics are about.”

Mask compliance fuels American Airlines incident

An American Airlines flight attendant scolded passengers who verbally abused them on a flight from Los Angeles to Charlotte that diverted in bad weather to Raleigh, a TikTok video shows.

A North Carolina musician outraged by his fellow passengers’ behavior posted the video in hopes others will be outraged, too.

“Mask compliance” started the incident, the airline confirmed.

At one point, a 22-year-old male passenger who’d been asked to wear a mask called a female flight attendant “a fat gorilla” and hurls a vulgarity at her, according to the video.

“There was absolutely no excuse for it,” Brent Underwood of the band 87&Pine told The Charlotte Observer. “It doesn’t matter what you look like. Everybody deserves respect. And everybody deserves to be punished equally for being a rude person like that. Why would you call a person a fat gorilla?”

Do vaccine incentives work?

Despite over a dozen states — including North Carolina — instituting vaccine lotteries, experts say it’s too soon to tell at how effective they are at expanding immunizations.

”The effect of the lotteries is not well understood currently, but they have certainly captured the public’s imagination,” said Noel Brewer, a professor of health behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health. “If that excitement turns into vaccinations, we will all be better off.”

Brewer, who is part of a team advising the governor on the lottery rollout, told The News & Observer trying to convince people who have made up their minds about the COVID-19 vaccine won’t likely work. But social pressure and recommendations from trusted friends, family and medical experts can help.

Financial incentives, particularly among lower-income populations, can also provide a boost.