The nation’s massive vaccination effort hit a snag Tuesday when, citing safety concerns, two federal health agencies called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.  Officials at the CDC and FDA are reviewing six cases in which a rare and severe type of blood clot developed after the person received the J&J vaccine, which, unl ...

Trial Management Associates, a Wilmington clinical research firm, and Bart Williams and Will Jones of Wrightsville Family Practice are conducting a trial of a new COVID-19 vaccine using plant-based technology and plant cells, according to an announcement Monday. Williams, the physician overseeing the trial, said in the news release, “The health and safety of our c ...

With large gatherings on hold because of the pandemic, it’s been a quieter-than-usual year at the Wilmington Convention Center. That wasn’t the case Friday, however, as Wilmington Health administered the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to nearly 1,200 people at the city-owned center, which sits along the northern downtown riverfront.  Anyone 16 and ...

As COVID-19 vaccines are becoming more widely available across the nation, employers in the region are starting to ask questions about having a vaccination requirement at the workplace.   Local lawyers say employers can require their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine and are now giving out legal advice to clients on the topic.   “As you could imagin ...

The leisure and hospitality industry continues to suffer the most among area economic sectors, according to Adam Jones, regional economist with the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The latest unemployment figures recently released by the N.C. Department of Commerce show that the leisure and hospitality sector in the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

The Wilmington region just entered Year Two of the now not-so-novel coronavirus.   On March 14, 2020, Brunswick County officials announced the arrival of the first positive case of COVID-19 in the tri-county area, brought back home by an individual who developed symptoms in Louisiana.   Four days later, New Hanover County made a similar announcement, with Pen ...

The Wilmington Chamber of Commerce is working with the local business community to share resources and help conduct surveys around the region's vaccination efforts. Most recently, the chamber helped connect businesses with a survey being conducted by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to help gauge local organizations that might be interested in hostin ...

In addition to anything else that it has wrought, a year of COVID-19 has forced officials, business owners and just about everyone else to use their greatest creative powers and to remain flexible. In some cases, pandemic restrictions have spurred innovation. In other cases, entities are simply hoping that, as the virus becomes less of a threat, they can return to pre-C ...

Local bar owners tried to adapt to the pandemic, which has left their businesses empty for nearly a year. And while some methods of coping were helpful, others were not. "I had rented a tent, and that was outrageously expensive every month with the chairs and the tables and the heaters and the gas to control the heaters," said Jimmy Gilleece, owner of Jimmy ...

Small businesses that act fast can apply for a grant program designed to help companies pay basic operational expenses in a coronavirus-crippled economy.   In partnership with Verizon, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) is offering $10,000 grants from a $10 million fund established by Verizon. The catch? The application window opened Monday morning and close ...