From the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services
Group 4 – Adults at Higher Risk for Exposure and
Increased Risk of Severe Illness (Essential Workers Not
Yet Vaccinated and Other Group Living Settings)
COVID-19 Vaccinations: Your best shot at stopping COVID-19
A tested, safe and effective vaccine will be available to all who want it, but supplies will be limited at first. To save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19, independent state and federal public health advisory committees recommend first protecting health care workers caring for patients with COVID-19, people who are at the highest
risk of being hospitalized or dying and those at high risk of exposure to COVID-19. Our goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible given the limited supply of vaccines.
Keep practicing the 3 Ws— wear a mask, wait six feet apart, wash your hands—until everyone has a chance to
get vaccinated.
Group 4: Group 4: Adults at Higher Risk for Exposure and Increased Risk of Severe Illness (Essential Workers Not Yet Vaccinated)
ESSENTIAL WORKERS NOT YET VACCINATED
Essential workers include:
• Those working in the essential sectors identified in Group 3 who did not meet the criteria for frontline. Essential sectors identified in Group 3 include critical manufacturing, education, essential goods, food and agriculture, government and community services, health care and public health, public safety and
transportation. See Deeper Dive Group 3.
• Those working in additional essential sectors as defined below.
o Chemical (including workers in petrochemical plants, agricultural chemicals,
pharmaceutical facilities, consumer products)
o Commercial facilities (including retail workers, hotel workers)
o Communications and information technology (including news reporters and staff, service
repair dispatchers, data center operators)
o Defense industrial base (including workers supporting essential services to meet national
security commitments)
o Energy (including electric, petroleum, natural and propane gas workers)
o Financial services (including workers who maintain systems for processing financial
transactions, workers needed to provide consumer access to banking and lending services)
o Hazardous materials (including nuclear facilities workers, workers managing medical waste)
o Hygiene products and services (including laundromats, sanitation workers)
o Public works and infrastructure support services (including plumbers, electricians,
exterminators, workers supporting parks)
NC Department of Health and Human Services | Group 4 | March 1, 2021 Page 2
o Residential facilities, housing and real estate
o Water and wastewater (including staff at water authorities, wastewater treatment
facilities, water sampling and monitoring)
The essential sectors and workers, as categorized by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), align with federal prioritization guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions’ Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations.
OTHER PEOPLE LIVING IN GROUP LIVING SETTINGS
This population includes students living in dormitories or other group living settings (e.g., fraternity or sorority houses), who are not already vaccinated due to age, medical condition or job function.
