The Novavax vaccine appears to be about 90% effective at preventing mild, moderate and severe COVID-19, Food and Drug Administration scientists say in an analysis of the company's data.

When a crisis strikes, communities like Charlotte look to nonprofit organizations for support. The coronavirus pandemic was no different. Except this time, nonprofits were also affected. Their finances and operations suffered. Now they're beginning the road to recovery.

The coronavirus pandemic has dealt an economic blow to many small businesses. A study from the Federal Reserve Board found around 200,000 businesses closed in 2020. Charlotte entrepreneur Sussa Goins had one of those businesses, and today she says she’s glad it shut down.

Applications for a new fund to help small businesses recover from the long-term economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic are now open. The Southern Opportunity and Resilience Fund is financing loans of up to $100,000 to small businesses in the South.

The child care industry was hit severely by the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of child care jobs were lost in 2020. One in six jobs still have not returned to the field, causing a severe shortage in child care providers.

The second round of Paycheck Protection Program loans rolled out in January. In late February, the Biden administration announced changes in eligibility to the program in an attempt to make the loans more accessible to small and minority-owned businesses. Now, there's less than a month left for business owners to apply.

Restaurants, food trucks and other businesses in the food industry will be able to apply for federal grant funding next week to help them recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

There’s been a decline in college enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students of color have to choose between getting a college degree or a job to help the family after graduation. But one student isn’t letting the challenges the pandemic brought him deter his post-grad plans.

Jobs in the tech industry are booming in part because of the pandemic as more people telecommute. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects up to 126,000 additional jobs will be needed in computer systems design over the next decade. That’s why the city of Charlotte spent about $170,000 in CARES Act funding to give 11 people financially impacted by COVID-19 a scholarship to enroll in a coding program.

A Latino advocacy organization based in Raleigh says it's raised about $425,000 in the last year for immigrants who missed out on stimulus checks because they are in the country illegally.

One of the big casualties of the pandemic has been the domestic workforce — especially people who clean homes and care for children. A survey from the National Domestic Workers Alliance found more than 90% of domestic workers lost jobs due to COVID-19. The majority of these workers are women of color and the main breadwinners in their families.

The number of college applications is going up nationally by 10%, according to the popular application platform Common App. But the number of applications for financial aid is going down. In North Carolina, it’s down 8%, and that number is even higher among first-generation and low-income students.