Hannah Critchfield

shows a hand holidng a small vial of COVID-19 vaccine

Vaccines arrive to NC’s prisons

January 21, 2021 by Hannah Critchfield 2 Comments

Vaccines arrive to NC’s prisons - North Carolina Health News

Incarcerated people and staff who are 75 or older began to receive the vaccine yesterday.

By Hannah Critchfield North Carolina began vaccinating state prisoners Wednesday after its prison agency received its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state health department. Correctional staff who work with COVID-19-positive incarcerated people or in prison units with outbreaks, as well as the health care staff administering shots, are also receiving the vaccine. […]

We see Ester Amy Fischer hugging her mother while they take a selfie. Her mother Barbara, who wears a purple shirt with spotted patterns, is smiling with laughter.

For some long-term care residents, vaccine comes too late

January 20, 2021 by Hannah Critchfield 2 Comments

For some long-term care residents, vaccine comes too late - North Carolina Health News

What happens when an outbreak strikes a facility while residents inside wait for a vaccine?

By Hannah Critchfield Even as North Carolina enters the second phase of its vaccine plan, some long-term care residents are still waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine. For Barbara Fischer, an 83-year-old dementia patient at Brookdale Meadowmont, it could be coming too late. When the state announced that people in long-term care facilities would be among […]

We see Mark Newton sitting with his arm around his older mother on a brown corduroy couch in their home in Reidsville. Both smile, with closed teeth, and look at the camera.

Family health workers feel left behind by NC’s vaccination rollout

January 14, 2021 by Hannah Critchfield 8 Comments

Family health workers feel left behind by NC’s vaccination rollout - North Carolina Health News

People who work at long term care facilities were some of the first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. Unpaid caregivers - those who care for their elderly parents or other relatives at home - aren’t being given the same priority.

By Hannah Critchfield For Mark Newton, each visit to the grocery store tempts fate. He arrives during early or late hours when the business is mostly empty, but he can’t control the checkout line – or the flood of fear that rushes in every time he finds himself surrounded by other too-close patrons, their noses […]

shows a metal container with alcohol pads, bandaids, gauze and a syringe filled with vaccine against COVID-19

COVID vaccines will come for NC prison staff first, then inmates

January 11, 2021 by Hannah Critchfield 2 Comments

COVID vaccines will come for NC prison staff first, then inmates - North Carolina Health News

NC prisons will soon receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The current distribution plan prioritizes staff over inmates, regardless of inmates’ increased risk.

By Hannah Critchfield Vaccines will begin arriving in North Carolina’s state prisons this month. Some staff are already beginning to receive doses, while incarcerated people in the same age demographic wait. As the number of new novel coronavirus cases shattered records last week, topping over 10,000 new cases on each of several days, North Carolina […]

shows hands handling a syringe and a vial of liquid medication, to represent the process of drawing up COVID vaccine

Vaccines are coming to NC’s prisons. Who should get first priority?

December 9, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

Vaccines are coming to NC’s prisons. Who should get first priority? - North Carolina Health News

A future COVID-19 vaccine is coming to North Carolina’s prisons – but exactly who will get first priority remains a contentious subject.

By Hannah Critchfield A future COVID-19 vaccine is coming to North Carolina’s prisons – and staff will be first in line to get it. But that prioritization is contentious. Under the state’s tentative plan, prison staff and high-risk incarcerated people will be first to get shots. Thousands of remaining inmates, the majority of the prison […]

Shows a crowd of turkeys, with white feathers, red crops and blue surrounding their eyes.

‘We are all working in fear:’ Migrant workers prepare turkeys amidst COVID fears

November 25, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

‘We are all working in fear:’ Migrant workers prepare turkeys amidst COVID fears - North Carolina Health News

As the holiday season draws near, meatpacking workers are preparing poultry for Thanksgiving and Christmas tables across the country. Employees claim some are dying in the process.

By Hannah Critchfield Jessica spends her days wrist-deep in turkey. She cuts their neck bones, removes the shanks, the crop, the organs no one wants to be confronted with when they handle, prep or eat the bird. She makes sure each fowl is sanitized before packaging, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with workers just like her, close to […]

Strawberry plants, using plastic ground covers, which help prevent weeds. Photo courtesy NC State University

More farmworker women are bringing their children to work during the pandemic

November 16, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

More farmworker women are bringing their children to work during the pandemic - North Carolina Health News

Throughout this year’s agricultural season, migrant farmworkers have struggled to find child care for young kids who would usually spend their days in classrooms.

By Hannah Critchfield Throughout most days this autumn, Olga would wake up early and head to a pumpkin patch in Swain County, in the westernmost region of North Carolina. She’d hoist the 10-to-20-pound decorative gourds, destined for Halloween carvings and carefully crafted social media photoshoots, into nearby bins. Her 9-year-old daughter Aracely would sit along […]

shows the front of a nondescript building, which is part of a prison complex

He tried to sue over COVID-19 conditions at his prison. He died before it was filed.

November 9, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

He tried to sue over COVID-19 conditions at his prison. He died before it was filed. - North Carolina Health News

A new lawsuit seeks relief for people incarcerated inside the deadliest federal prison in the country.

By Hannah Critchfield John Dailey tried to sue over COVID-19 conditions at his prison, but he died before his case could be filed. Butner Correctional Complex, a sprawling facility about an hour outside Raleigh, is North Carolina’s only federal prison. More prisoners have died of COVID-19 at Butner than at any other prison run by […]

We see Jayla, age 11, hugging her sister Bailey, age 5, before they were pepper sprayed at a voting rights rally on Oct. 31 in Graham, North Carolina.

Pepper-sprayed on their way to the polls: What is pepper spray’s impact on children?

November 3, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

Pepper-sprayed on their way to the polls: What is pepper spray’s impact on children? - North Carolina Health News

The effects of the chemical may be more dangerous for children and medically vulnerable people — and the pandemic might just make things worse.

By Hannah Critchfield On Halloween Day, Melanie Mitchell brought her two daughters and her 61-year-old mother to what she believed would be a family-friendly event — a march to the polls in her hometown of Graham, North Carolina. “I don’t take my kids to protests, but this was only for voting. That was our whole […]

We see a sign that reads, "Tu Voz Importa," posted on the grass along a road in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 13.

Will North Carolina’s jailed voters be represented in this election?

October 30, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

Will North Carolina’s jailed voters be represented in this election? - North Carolina Health News

An estimated 128,000 people cycle through North Carolina jails each year. How many will vote in the swing state’s upcoming election?

By Hannah Critchfield As the election looms next week, record-breaking numbers of voters have already cast their ballots in the battleground state of North Carolina. One in three North Carolinians has already voted. Of these approximately 4 million voters, according to state data, and as of Thursday evening, more than 881,000 of them cast absentee […]

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