Jan. 11. Atrium Health Cabarrus, Atrium Health Lincoln and Atrium Health Union begin offering the COVID-19 vaccine to members of the general public. The expansion of vaccination availability across the region comes as North Carolina moved from Phase 1a to Phase 1b, Group 1, of its vaccine priority distribution plan that launched on Jan. 6 allowing people over 75 years of age to be vaccinated. Atrium Health became the one of the first health systems in the region to provide mass vaccinations beginning last Wednesday, in keeping with guidance from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Two vaccines are FDA-approved to prevent COVID-19, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.