Forty-five middle school students from North Carolina got sick Monday afternoon for an unknown reason. Sixth graders at Starmount Middle School in Yadkin County began complaining about feeling nauseous with headaches. Some students had thrown up.Only sixth graders were affected, neither seventh nor eighth-graders reported becoming sick, according to the Yadkin County Schools superintendent.In response to the mysterious epidemic, the school did a shelter in place to keep unaffected students away from the others that were ill."I understand parents were nervous and upset. No messaging went out because I can tell you, I saw first hand, administration and front office staff were focused on helping students. That's first priority," Yadkin County Schools Superintendent Todd Martin said.First responders came to the school to help and check the students out.Yadkin County Schools and the Yadkin County Health Department are investigating the strange illness that affected the 45 students.Most of the affected students returned to school the following Tuesday.There were rumors of a CO2 leak, but Martin said that was ruled out.Officials are investigating possible food poisoning, but this has not been confirmed as the cause of the sickness.Parents should hear from the school Monday evening.This is a developing story, check back for more updates.

The Mississippi State Department of Health has received reports of eight pregnant women dying from COVID-19 in the past several weeks, according to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.Dobbs said all of the women were unvaccinated. The babies were born premature, but are alive, Dobbs said."COVID is especially problematic and dangerous for pregnant women. We also know it can be deadly for the baby in the womb," Dobbs said. "With COVID, we've seen a doubling of the rate of fetal demise, or the death of the baby in the womb after 20 weeks. It's been a real tragedy."Dobbs said the COVID-19 vaccines are "remarkably" effective in preventing deaths in pregnant women and their unborn babies. The state health department is working to get the message to pregnant women that the vaccine is safe and available to protect "the most vulnerable in our community." Health officials added 1,934 new COVID-19 cases to Mississippi's tally and 102 additional deaths on Wednesday. Dobbs said nearly half of Mississippians have received at least one dose. State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said, after a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the number of deaths lags behind. "In August, over 93,000 cases to date. Some of the cases reported now still have deaths from that August timeframe, so it continues to increase," Byers said.Byers said there has also been a decrease in the number of students and teachers who are on quarantine after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Ohio's vaccine distribution is gaining speed. With the addition of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, introduction of mass vaccination sites in the state and expanded eligibility for Ohioans who want the shot, vaccine distributors are able to get more shots into arms than at any point in the pandemic. With the expansion has come new challenges.WLWT spoke with Dr. Melba Moore, Cincinnati's health commissioner, regarding problems that were exposed during the city's first attempts at holding mass vaccination clinics. The Cincinnati Health Department held the first mass vaccination clinics in the city over the last several days, including the largest to date Saturday at the Duke Energy Center, Moore admits it is time for "fine tuning."The health department was prepared to vaccinate 5,000 people Saturday at the Duke Energy Center. It was able to pre-register and vaccinate 4,177 people."So we fell short," she said. "We didn't push hard enough with the information. I know it was Friday evening that a call went out to the media."In the future, Moore acknowledged that the department needs to communicate earlier about opportunities for vaccination. WLWT received concerns from viewers that the city's health department website and online vaccine sign-up is not user-friendly and that there were some glitches.The website does appear outdated in some areas, including on the Vaccine Information & Sign-up page, which as of Monday evening, refers to potential weather interference for vaccine appointments on Feb. 11.Moore said the health department is aware of complaints with various aspects of the website and is working to address those concerns and make the site and sign-up process easier to navigate. "Tell us what is not working. We want to hear that feedback," she said. "This is always very helpful for us to hear what the concerns are so we can make those adjustments."Some people have expressed frustration that vaccines provided at the mass vaccination clinics run by the Cincinnati Health Department were only available to people who live or work within city limits.Hamilton County's health department, as well as many neighboring health departments, are vaccinating anyone who is eligible according to Ohio's eligibility requirements, regardless of residency. WLWT asked Moore about that decision and if she has considered changing the policy. "We are considering changing that," she said. "Because remember, we had a limited supply of vaccine that we were working with. So see how you start small and you build and work your way up? We're taking a look at that, scheduling too, to just open it up so that people can be vaccinated. If they live in Hamilton County, they can get vaccinated in the city. We're looking at that now."With vaccine eligibility expanding in Ohio, Moore said she is optimistic. "We are almost there. It's like a little glimmer of light. You can see it," she said. She is also hopeful knowing that the city recorded just 12 new cases of COVID-19 Monday.