CHAPEL HILL, NC – The University of North Carolina System will receive 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to distribute next week as institutions prepare to vaccinate students.
Earlier this week, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that all adults will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 7. People who live in congregate settings, such as students in dormitories, will be eligible March 31.
Since February, several UNC campuses have operated vaccine clinics to serve their communities. As of Thursday, more than 27,000 vaccinations had been administered at the 12 clinics now running at UNC institutions.
UNCG’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic, Whitney Phillips, a senior in the School of Nursing and a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army 
UNCW’s opens it Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic at Burney Center ready to deliver Johnson & Johnson vaccination to 300 people on March 26, 2021. PHOTO BY: JEFF JANOWSKI/UNCW 
Appalachian State’s nursing students assist in vaccinating the public.
The UNC System has already made preparations to ensure each campus is ready to get shots in students’ arms. COVID-19 vaccines are strongly recommended, but not required, for students.
“We want to send a clear message to encourage students to get their shot,” said UNC System President Peter Hans. “These vaccinations will help us send students home safely at the end of the semester and return our universities safely to normal operations in the fall, so that our students can have the full college experience they need and deserve. We want to do our part to bring this terrible pandemic to an end.”
UNC System campuses will also continue to operate COVID-19 vaccine clinics in the coming weeks and months, with an emphasis on reaching underserved and rural populations. The clinics are being coordinated in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and North Carolina Emergency Management. Universities are also working with county health departments, local emergency managers and health care systems in their areas.
In addition to the 27,000 vaccinations already given, UNC Health has administered more than 275,000 doses, with more than 120,000 people now fully vaccinated. A clinic at UNC’s Friday Center in Chapel Hill has given 55,000 vaccinations.
Community clinics are already operating at Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina Central University, University of North Carolina Asheville, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Western Carolina University. Winston-Salem State University is serving as a satellite site as part of the FEMA operation in the state. North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are running clinics for campus faculty, staff and students. Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, University of North Carolina School of the Arts and University of North Carolina at Charlotte will either open clinics or provide student vaccinations through health care partners within the next two weeks.
Earlier this year, the UNC System, working through UNC-Chapel Hill’s NC Policy Collaboratory, acquired freezers capable of storing and transporting vaccines at sub-zero temperatures. Fifteen campuses received a total of 62 freezers, including 29 mobile units that can distribute the vaccine across North Carolina.