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TRANSCRIPT: Hi, everyone. I'm Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. I want to thank you for your dedication, resilience, and collaborative spirit, which have made a huge difference in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, this has been a difficult year for many; and through it all, Highland-Cashier's Hospital and the Hospital Foundation and the hundreds of volunteers remain focused on caring for your community. Faced with challenges and uncertainty, this amazing group stepped up in a variety of ways to help keep North Carolina a safe and healthy place for everyone. As of today, more than nine and a half million doses of vaccine have been administered to North Carolina, and over half of our adult population have been fully vaccinated. This was possible, in part, thanks to your efforts. The Highlands-Cashiers COVID Vaccine Initiative played a vital part to keep your neighbors informed and provide thousands of life-saving COVID vaccines to individuals and their families. The trust you built in your community was an instrumental part of the efforts to defeat the virus. You volunteered your time and your energy to create a safe environment that people could turn to during this time of worry and uncertainty. I especially want to thank the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital CEO, Tom Neal, and Highlands-Cashiers Health Foundation executive director Robin Tindall, and all of the 300 and plus volunteers who staff the call center and the clinics. You responded quickly to protect the health of our communities and to help prevent the spread of the deadly virus and to provide care to those who became ill and as well as helping their families. As we look toward a brighter year ahead, we know that we couldn't have gotten here without your hard work. Thanks to you and stay well.

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